Have you thought about the people in your life? Your spouse or loved one; child or children and friends? Are you ever grateful to have them in your life?

How about the people you loathed, detested, disliked? Yep, the people you don’t (or didn’t) like.

The ones who were mean to you; hurt you; abused you; bullied you, etc. Have you ever been grateful about having had them in your life?

By now you’re either calling me nuts (or other not so pleasant names) – or I have piqued your interest.

When I was younger, I attended a parenting class. One of our first homework assignments was to go home and write all of the parenting skills we had learned from our parents.

I began stewing within.

The next class, when it was time to turn in our home assignments, I handed the instructor a sheet of paper with my name on it; nothing else.

The instructor looked at me – eyebrows raised – and the unspoken question hung between us.

I defiantly said, “My father traveled, so parenting was left to my mother.”

The instructor waited – so I continued, “There’s not one parenting skill she passed on to me.” There, I said it!

She smiled and said how lucky I was.

My jaw dropped; she continued, “So you are telling me that she taught you what NOT to do. You are so lucky.”

I was dumbstruck….and she was right!

After that, I began looking back over my life. Since I had worked hard to find the positive from situations in my life, shouldn’t I have included the people I didn’t like and the situations intertwined with those people?

The answer was yes.

I objectively looked back and saw that I gained much from those encounters.

I then silently thanked each individual for providing me those hard, but definitely worthwhile, life lessons.

I really am a better ‘me’ because of what they each taught me; I am grateful to have had them in my life.

I am who I am today because of all of the experiences with all of the people and situations in my life up to this point.

Yes, I am grateful.

May 13, 2009

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