Part of it killed me

I'm sitting in a hotel room on a brief respite from a month-long software training course, waiting for my man to get here. I have a new job - full-time, permanent and in my chosen field for the first time in 2.5 years. I have a real and healthy relationship for the first time in...ever? Both are amazing. I'm getting paid to learn. I am working with some of the most top notch people I have ever met. I am dating a man that comes inside the airport to pick me up, set the table in our hotel room last night and poured me a glass of wine, tells me I am beautiful and seems like a dream and I know I am blessed. But the very difficult events of the last four years: a lost job, the death of two people I loved, a great deal of time away from home, personal mistakes, and particularly several painful family issues are also a blessing. The difficulties are blessings not only because they made me stronger, but also because it forced me to recognize my weaknesses. The happy changes in my life are most surely a result of changes brought about by gaining that knowledge.