Make the Most of your Misfortunes

Two 36 year old middle class women sitting in a local tea shop. They went to college together 16 years ago.

Lacy: I got fired this morning.

Sarah: Oh, I am so sorry.

Lacy: Yeah, Its really terrible, but a few friends who have sent my resume to their HR departments.

Sarah: Well that’s hopeful.

Lacy: Yeah, I should have a new job in a few weeks. Everyone wants my skills now a days.

Sarah: Well send me your resume and I’ll send it to my HR department too, I am not sure what kind of openings we have, but I’ll put in a good word

Lacy: That’s awesome. It’s cool having a college buddy like you.

Sarah: Well make sure that you take time to make use of this situation.

Lacy: What are you talking about? Like going to the beach or taking a cruise?

Sarah: No I mean like thinking about what you learned about life and your self from being fired.

Lacy: Huh? My employer sucks? That’s what I learned.

Sarah: No I mean like what did you learn about business or the bigger picture of the economy that were at play in your situation.

Lacy: what?

Sarah: Yeah, every misfortune has lessons to teach us.

Lacy: You are crazy.

Sarah: I was abandoned by parents when I was 8. I mined that misfortune for all it was worth.

Lacy: Like what?

Sarah: Like that I learned how to be a good parent to my own kids for one. I learned what love means and what it doesn’t mean. I learned to forgive others. I learned to survive on my own. I learned that no matter what happens to me in the future it can’t be as bad as what I’ve already gone through. Which means I have no fear and I take risks that pay of big a lot of times. That’s lead to great success in my career.

Lacy: So that’s your secret? You’re the CEO of one of the state’s most successful companies. And the reason why is because you were abandoned at 8?

Sarah: Well we all have our own misfortunes. You have to mine whatever your own misfortunes are.

Lacy: I’ll never be a CEO because my life has been pretty sweet so far.

Sarah: It’s all a matter of perspective. You can mine all your experiences for gold.

Lacy: Nah, my life can’t teach me anything. I’ll never be successful like you/

Sarah: I guess not.