I had a boss once who'd always said, "Everything happens for a reason." When I first met her, I thought she was full of shit and was very annoyed by her catchphrase. Probably it got on my nerves because at the time "everything" was a bucket of unhappiness, futility and hopelessness and being told it was happening for a reason just wasn't what I wanted to hear.

But after this year of re-examination and getting my shit together (or together-ish as it sometimes feels), I've come to believe that motto to be true. In the past month after getting laid off, I've been forced to do a lot of thinking about my unemployment. All of my friends: near, far and virtual, have been very supportive and it has been an incredible gift having them during this time. However, despite all of this support, my brain has been working overtime worrying about everything from "what will I do if I don't have a job in three months?" to "is this going to bring back the depression?". At times, it's been hard remaining positive, but my old boss's words kept ringing in my head.

Everything happens for a reason.

The day I was sacked, I returned home and immediately started updating my resume to send out. My friend Jenn sent me an instant message surprised to see me logged in during business hours. She said ,"Hey. Just wanted to throw something at you. We're looking for a copy writer/production assistant here at work. I'm not sure if that's something you'd be interested in or not." I told her I was just laid off an hour ago, so yes I would be very interested. I sent her my resume and was called immediately for an interview.

I had the interview 4 days after my surgery. Not the wisest of decisions on my part, but I really thought I might be recovered by then. I was SO wrong, but I went anyway. I apologized and explained why I sounded congested and like shit, but the hiring manager didn't seem to mind. After the interview, she gave me an assignment to do to get an idea of what kind of work it'd produce. It was a very short assignment, but I really enjoyed doing it. It was even, dare I say it, fun.

The following week, I was told they hired someone else. I kept telling myself everything happens for a reason. There is something better out there or I was meant to do something else.

Or maybe I was meant to just wait a while longer. Yesterday afternoon, they called me to offer the job. Apparently, it didn't work out with whomever they hired. So my unemployment is coming to an end very soon and I'm pretty excited about it. Jenn IMed me this afternoon and said, "It's been crazy around here. Enjoy your last de-stressed days." I told her I'd rather take that kind of stress over the stress of The Unknown? any day.

Everything happens for a reason. It is very true.