Every blogger and their brother will be doing a post on what they’re grateful for this week.
It’s an easy topic, doesn’t require any real research, and it frees you a little bit from the tyranny of having to think of something else to write about.
I’m going to do it, too, but I want to invert it – things for which I’m grateful that are a little outside the norm.
I’m grateful for the fact that as of this writing, I’ve been unemployed for almost six months.
Why would I be grateful for being jobless? This should be a bad thing, right?
Being unemployed has brought so many unexpected things to me. One, I’m grateful that we are in the financial position that I can be unemployed for this long and we still have food on the table and a roof overhead. It’s not been that many years since this would have been a huge struggle for us. While we’ve had to defer a few things until I’m working, we’ve been able to survive with relative ease.
Another unexpected benefit has been getting back in touch with people I’ve worked with over the years, and discovering how willing they are to help out. I’m not known for being good at keeping in touch, and people I haven’t spoken with in years have gone out of their way to make introductions and provide opportunities. I feel truly fortunate to have reconnected with these folks, and have them in my life.
That last bit, combined with the sudden death of an old friend, has also brought me another realization. At Steve’s service and memorial event, I reconnected with a bunch of people I hadn’t seen in years, and I had actually unfriended on social media because of politics. Seeing them again made me realize something – I don’t agree with these folks, but there are many of them I still genuinely like. In creating my political bubble on social media, I lost something very much more important. I’m grateful for that discovery, and the chance to correct that wrong.
I don't agree with these folks, but many of them I genuinely like. Creating my political bubble on social media lost something more important. I'm grateful for that discovery, and the chance to correct that wrong. Share on X