Finding the Good in Every Situation
In this universe of contrast, there is wanted and unwanted that can be found in every situation.
Today I have a personal story that I hope will encourage anyone who is feeling a bit down to feel some gratitude about where they are right now.
So here's the tea...
About 3 months ago, my mom was looking to hire someone to do some construction work on the siding of our house. Our family friend recommended someone to us who I'll refer to as John Doe for the remainder of this post, and we hired this man to do the job for us.
John Doe gave us a quote of $15,000 for the entire job and told us it would take 4 days max to complete.
He also asked for $10 000 up front, which we paid him since our family friend recommended him to us, and told us he's such a nice guy that always gets taken advantage of (because that's the story John Doe tells everyone.)
Well, if you haven't already anticipated where this story was going, it turned out John Doe is anything but a nice guy and a total conman.
It's been almost 3 months that the job hasn't been completed, and John Doe and his crew have done nothing other than tear up our property and leave the job unfinished. We currently don't have access to our driveway or garage, because there are tons of construction materials he left there that we cannot move, and we have to vacuum like crazy since there is so much sand and dirt surrounding our house that is inevitably brought into the house via our dog's feet and our shoes.
John Doe has consistently told us he would show up, and then not shown up, and then ignored our messages when we asked him why there was no one here.
After more than a month of this behaviour, when I got mad at him for taking advantage our kindness and lying to us, he had the audacity to get offended and tell me I'm a very rude person.
Then when I told him he can give us our money back since he's not getting the job done, he told me no one would be getting any money back.
In other words, the guy is a sleezy and shameless narcissist.
There's more to this story, but that's the gist of it.
My family has been tricked out of $10 000 by a horrible human being who goes around playing the victim to everyone he meets, and it turns out our family friend only recommended him because someone he knows recommended him.
And to add the cherry on the ice cream, John Doe is now asking us for more money for the remaining materials that need to be purchased since he spent everything we already paid him, and we will now need to find someone else to pay again to actually get the job done.
My family and I have been totally blindsided.
But despite being caught in such a shitty situation, I have found a bright side that I am genuinely grateful for.
Throughout this entire process of dealing with this egomaniac, I have seen my family stick together in a way that I know not everyone does.
Despite my parents being divorced and all the fights we may have had, when push comes to shove, we are there for each other.
I am so deeply grateful to have a family that cares about protecting each other, and will deal with stress day in and day out to do so if that's what it takes.
Sometimes I hear all these crazy stories of what some people's family members put them through, like Vanessa Bryant's mother suing her for money right after her husband and daughter died, and it just reminds me of how lucky I am to have a family that would never betray me like that.
This sticky situation that resulted in a huge financial loss has also reminded me to not attach my worth to things, which I honestly think was in good timing because I felt myself starting to get a bit too obsessed with keeping up with the Jones' if you know what I'm sayin'.
Plus, enduring this loss has given me a good kick in the butt to work that much harder on my business plans since I really want to make up for the deficit.
Despite everything that's gone on, I know that the universe has my back and this is all part of everything working out for me, even if I can't see it right away.
I hope this has inspired you to find more gratitude where you are (and has also inspired you to be careful about paying construction workers upfront! LOL)
Have a wonderful week. 💖
Take care,
