Brittlestar’s Weekly Newsletter - Issue #3
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FORCED OPPORTUNITY
(or SOMETIMES SUCCESS STARTS WITH SUCK)
I was 22 when I got married… the first time.
As is the case with all 22 year olds, I was convinced the life I had was the life I would have forever.
I had made my choices and that was that.
As is also the case with all 22 year olds, I was unaware that life finds such concrete beliefs pretty funny.
It really does.
I was 24 when I got divorced… the first and hopefully last time (I love you, Shannon… who am I kidding… she’ll never read this).
I had been unhappy in my first marriage from before my first marriage even began. My focus had been entirely on supporting the other person in the relationship.
Not in a gallant “I’ll take whatever job I need to to support your dreams, baby” way, but more like an scatter rug that always seems to be underfoot.
When the wheels came off of the marriage, I found myself a little confused. I wasn’t as entirely devastated as I thought I might be. Kinda like I had been trapped in a house that I thought I really liked… but was on fire… and someone had smashed open the door offering a way out.
It made me confront myself and my aspirations head on.
It was a moment of forced opportunity.
Did I want to be divorced? No.
Make no mistake. Ending a relationship is painful and messy and generally awful.
But…
Did I want a way out? A change? Yes. And this was the opportunity.
I think these moments of Forced Opportunity pop into our lives more often than we realize. They don’t all stem from bad things but I think those are the easiest ones to be aware of.
The pandemic has made life very hard for a lot of people.
A lot of people have lost their longtime jobs or businesses.
I hope that it has also given some of those people the opportunity to push forward in a path they’ve always wanted to try.
Sometimes the best decisions are made when your back is against the wall.
I know mine have. I’ve been there.
A young stupid marriage that fell apart but led me to my beautiful best friend and wife, Shannon, and two amazing sons.
A business that fell apart spectacularly in 2008 that left us in a terrifying financial situation up until 2013 (a long 5 years… like really long) but led to me starting to make videos on Vine, hanging out with Gordon Ramsay, being invited to the White House by the Obama’s and eventually talking to you here.
Opportunity doesn’t always knock.
Sometimes opportunity ties your shoelaces together.
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Seen here: Recently divorced moron trades up to leggier model.