Category: Let's talk
In his article titled averted vision TIM KREIDER argues that some of his happiest times, in retrospect, came during times of actual stress and disappointment.
Let me give you an example from my own life. In 1993 I attended a week long class on database security in Los Angeles. The class was a dud: the instructor hid his lack of knowledge by using terms we didn't understand, (in fact, it got so bad that the entire class contacted their corporate sponsors to register a complaint. The city was boring. I was terribly lonely (I didn't know another soul in class, and they were all treating me with that distant stand-offishness that we have all experienced). I missed my kids and wife terribly.
However, when looking back on that trip, I remember the wonderful time I had listening to the L.A. symphony playing Tschikovski's sixth symphony, the three female schoolteachers I met in the hotel bar, and watching "mutiny on the bounty" in my hotel room (I mean really watching it for the first time). In short, I look back on that trip as a rather pleasant time, though when I "really" think about it, it was horrible.
My question to you is, what events in your lives trigger pleasant memories, but, applying the real mirror unfiltered by memory, you realize it was terrible. In other words, have you had similar experiences?
Bob
The only thing that comes close is my trip to Las Vegas in early 2001. I had a good time overall, but my feet problems started with this trip. I did so much walking that I got blisters on my feet that never healed and turned into foot ulcers over the next several months, resulting in a diagnosis of diabetes after one foot became so infected and painful that I couldn't put ashoe on. My feet did hurt a lot during my week in Vegas, but overall I had a good time.
Sometimes I wonder how long it would have taken me to start developing foot problems serious enough to force me to go to a doctor if it hadn't been for that trip.
i love this topic. As the cliche says, we can look at the glass as either half full or half empty.there are so many times in my life where this has happened, but the most recent is my dad's death. for the past 20 years, my brother and I have been estranged. Well I contact him but he chose not to reciprocate. Anyway, since I'm the estate representative, he has to talk to me, and guess what we really like each other. He's gotten to know my kids and they respect him too.