Episode description

I’ve been reflecting on some of the things I’m grateful for. As I embark on the next phase of my professional and family life, ready to return to living in Melbourne, I’ve been thinking about what I’ve sacrificed, survived, and received over the past 25 years in Hobart.  

And this morning I had a realisation … I am honestly grateful for the shitty times, as well as the amazing opportunities life in Tasmania afforded me.  Why? Because those shitty times (and let’s face it, some pretty shitty people) taught me so much. I’ve grown through these experiences. And I’ve learned more and more about just what I’m capable of overcoming.  

It can be hard to see how to be grateful when shitty stuff happens, I know.  But here’s something I realised as a kid (with plenty of shitty stuff going down on the regular).

 If I could wish away the shitty stuff, I would have also miss out on some of the good stuff that followed. As an adult I realised that would have meant never meeting my husband and never having my children (unless you ask my kids, who subscribe to the multi-universe theory of time travel, but we won’t go into that here!).  

So what’s my point?

It’s simply this … after even the darkest times, we learn and grow. Even with the experience of traumatic events, which of course I wish we could all avoid, we humans are capable of post-traumatic growth (google it).  

So here’s a little activity for you.  

I challenge you to spend some time not only creating a gratitude list of the easy stuff (I’m grateful for my husband, my comfortable home, my kids, my blah blah blah) … I want you to really drill down into what you a grateful for having received as the result of surviving shitty stuff in your personal or business life.  

We all have to deal with shitty times. And sometimes it takes a good while to be able to see what you’ve learned about yourself as a result. But it’s there.  

Perhaps you just need to spend a moment of reflection. And gratitude.  

Much love, Tess x