Over the last year, I’ve had terrible allergy and asthma issues that only happened in my own home, in my own bedroom. My husband was sure I was allergic to him or the dog. He feared that if it was him, he would have to go. He knows the dog will never go. A weekend away alone with my husband ruled out the husband allergy issue, but I was still suffering.

Our bedroom has an attached bathroom. Late last fall our shower started to leak. After some band-aid attempts to stop the leaking, a professional was called in. Within minutes of pulling up tile he announced, “I’m out of here. You have mold.” Fabulous! Mold doctors (That’s what they call themselves.) were called in. They essentially tore our bathroom down, removed the mold that had spread to the basement and left us an astronomical bill and completely unusable bathroom.

Not long after that, our long-term homeowner’s insurer dropped us, our first bid for a new bathroom came in at the same price as a year’s tuition at our daughter’s east coast college, my husband had just closed on a new business, I was in the middle of rebranding and launching a new website, and our youngest child was applying to ridiculously expensive colleges across the country. Winning. Did I mention the middle of the night walks to our powder room that often ended in stepping on the dog or stubbing a toe?

Yet, as I’ve preached ad nauseum right here on this blog, it’s up to each of us to find the opportunities or possibilities in miserable situations. As annoyed as I now was with myself for this advice to others, it seemed rather inauthentic of me to not take my own advice. So, I set out to find the opportunities of a now useless, previously moldy bathroom.

Finding Possibilities Not Problems

Let’s start with the opportunity of breathing. When the mold was removed, the asthma that I was suffering from virtually disappeared overnight, as did the steroids that I had to take to keep my lungs flowing. Breathing isn’t an opportunity I will take for granted again. I hadn’t felt a full deep breath in months and I didn’t realize how that was dragging me down.

How about a new bathroom? After a great deal of interviewing and head banging, we have found a reasonably priced contractor, as well as a brilliant decorator/designer to help us make thousands of bathroom decisions. Construction starts soon, so I’m sure reframing of construction misery will be necessary next. But in the meantime, bring on the new bathroom!

How about the opportunity of sharing one shower with five people and a few guests over winter break? (Not at the same time, by the way.) Yep, lots of family negotiations and scheduling to make that shower time work for everyone. We are a middle class family and rather spoiled with more than one bathroom and shower. Here’s the opportunity for us to be both grateful for that and empathize with those who have never had more than one bathroom and live lovely lives anyway.

Finally, the opportunity of really appreciating a comfortable life in which a useless bathroom initially feels like a crisis, when ultimately it is just a minor inconvenience. Perspective is everything and the opportunity to refresh mine has been a lesson in values and priorities that I plan to hold onto for at least a week into the new bathroom. I recently told my husband that the delays in getting that new bathroom up and running is going to have us really appreciating it when it’s done.

So, I guess I’m saying that I’m grateful for that moldy old bathroom and all the wonderful opportunities it has given me and my family. However, I’d also like to say that there’s no need for me to experience these opportunities again.