My Thankful Mistakes

So of course around this time of year everyone starts talking about what they are thankful for. It usually starts with a loving family and ends somewhere with health like my previous post. But for this entry I wanted to mix it up a little bit and make a list of all of the "mistakes" I made that I am thankful for now. Sometimes we get caught up in our failures but then years down the road we are glad that things didn't turn out the way we wanted them to. So here is my list of thankful mistakes...



#1 That I didn't finish my x-ray tech degree @ Vol State. At the time my father was heartbroken and told me that I would never find a job in accounting. I still look back and wonder if I would have been happy in the medical field but then when I remind myself of the hellish hours and all of the sick people I feel more secure in my decision.



#2 I made a few bad choices regarding my relationship and I quickly realized who was there and who was not. Needless to say my Christmas card list is much shorter now and there is a lot less drama. Do the people talk trash about me? Probably not, but if they do it's worth it to have people gone who don't care about you.



#3 I got hammered for the first time at the tender age of 13. Once I saw how much it upset my mother that was it for me. I never really drank much after that (even after I turned 21). I look back and think that seeing how alcohol effected the people I love so much made me not want to hurt them.



#4 Perming my hair...lol. And I mean in 2002 not 1992. It was so easy to manage and take care of so I just went with it. As weird as this may sound Brad actually asked me why I didn't get my hair permed again recently. I guess my permed hair helped lure him in. Ha! It must have been the smell. Guys are so weird!



#5 Calling off my original wedding date of 6/7/08. Although we only moved it out 5 months it definitely gave me some time to sit back and make sure that this was 100% what I wanted to do. Not necessarily saying that I wasn't sure if I wanted to be with Brad but I was just so scared of marriage. You always hear negative comments but rarely hear positive ones. Then I realized that it's up to us to make it work and be a happy thing not others experiences. I'm 100% sure of my decision now!



#6 That I completely snapped and freaked out these past few months. It has drawn those closer that truly love me and care about me and pushed those away who are all about themselves. Relationships have grown stronger and I really see that I do have people that I can count on no matter what. I just need to spend more time putting my energy towards those people instead of the others.



#7 That I didn't go back to get my MBA. If I would have went straight on to graduate school I wouldn't have been able to work at my current job and move up the ladder. And with the economy in a slump I might have ended up scanning canned goods at Walmart with my degree. I've started to focus more on my skills than my education. I can educate myself but you can only learn skills hands-on.



#8 That Brad and I moved into together before we got married. A lot of people gave us criticism for that since it was "sin" but I am glad that we did it b/c it showed us that we are capable of living together without killing one another. It would have sucked to get married only to realize that it wasn't working and then get a divorce.



Well I guess that is all for now. I'm sure my list could go on and on because God knows I've probably made more mistakes than accomplishments but that is what keeps pushing me. It's kind of like that show My Name is Earl where Earl is constantly trying to make up for his mistakes by making a list and correcting them. Sometimes though we just have to move on from our mistakes b/c someday down the road it will be the best mistake we ever made.