2022, Personal

I Had a Pretty Shitty (2nd Half of) 2022

I had a pretty shitty second half (and a bit) of 2022.

  • My dog was attacked and nearly lost his tail.
  • An influential relative (who I wish I had a closer relationship with) died.
  • My dog seriously injured me, twice, in the span of two months (The second time was worse than the first.)
  • My house flooded, twice, within a couple of hours. (Bookending one of the dog injuries.)

And there was some other more minor stuff. (Two colds in 5 weeks! While I was recovering from my broken finger. Shit like that. )

This morning, I thought I lost my new prescription sunglasses, which I had to purchase due to one of the dog injuries. I dropped them while walking the dog. Before I found them, I couldn’t believe my luck. I was miserable. Just money, of course, but it felt like the bad luck never ends.

2022 wasn’t actually bad, though. It just felt bad.

It wasn’t bad because of Jenn, my family, and my friends. And because I am immensely privileged. What passes for a bad year for me would have been a great year for any number of people in the world. And I have friends and family who are living with far more serious problems than I experienced this year.

In fact, I had a rather good year financially. I’m in better financial shape now than I’ve ever been in my adult life.

So much of how we experience the world is how we frame it, the lens we choose to view the world through, the perspective we have. Though I was unlucky in some ways this year, I have had a profoundly lucky life, and continue to benefit from that luck. A huge chunk of people in the world would easily trade a broken finger, a rather large scar and two floods for a house in one of the best cities in the world, a well-paying white collar career and financial stability I have.

I am grateful for being so being so privileged.

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