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For two years it seemed as though anything that could go wrong, would go wrong. I wanted to run and hide, cry, pout, and scream all at the same time. It seemed like everything was spinning out of control. I'd dodge one obstacle, only to be struck by an even larger one.

In that two year period my father passed away suddenly, my very good friend was killed in the line of duty, I lost my job, my wife, the girlfriend that followed, place to live, and even my best dog-friend Sarge; it seemed that I was in a never-ending downward spiral. Everything that I knew about life came into question. I was in a state of shock, I felt as though I had gone from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the sea.

The first and easiest thing I found to do was to find a place to live. Fortunately, the man whom I had rented from previously liked me and was willing to help in any way. The next was to find a job, and fortunately again, another friend had an opening in his business and was willing to teach me the ropes. So, there I was having a place to live and a job. The job wasn't the greatest, but it was just that; a job.

I dove head-first into alcohol and the bar scene. I'd spend most every night at the local pub, just drinking my worries away. Then reality set in, my income was not supporting the lifestyle I was accustomed to; bills started piling up on me. All I could do was hope for another hour of overtime pay or even better, ten. I spent many nights on my front porch wishing and hoping that all the troubles would just go away. I mourned what I'd lost; the job of my dreams, the nice house, the wife and two kids, nice cars and a motorcycle; by most standards I had it all. Then the one domino fell, and just as in anything else, that domino fell into another and then another and another. I cursed the moon and everything in the sky and on earth. I knew that other people had it worse than I, but that didn't matter at the time.

I sat in my apartment one night watching "Cast Away" starring Tom Hanks. One brief moment in that movie changed everything. His character recalled his time on the island: "..I suddenly realized I had no control over anything, I couldn't even control whether I lived or died, and a warm feeling came over me...all I had to do was to remember to breath". He continued on talking about the tide coming in and how you never know what the tide will bring in with it. In the story, after some time and planning, the tide brought in a sail for his raft. That sail was all he needed to get off the island and end his isolation. I had to replay that scene numerous times because it touched me so deeply: and the tide changed.

I quit worrying about all that had happened, whether my fault or not, I asked myself what I was going to do to make things better for myself. I did a complete self-assessment. I made decisions to make things happen that I could and the rest I would deal with as they came.

It's been three years since the first domino fell, now I'm in a job that I love to do, and it pays well. I am living out my dream of one day being a writer, I have my nice apartment, my motorcycle and my truck. I have friends. I have loved ones. Most importantly I have a new perspective on life. I won't say the dominoes have stopped falling, it's just now I see each fallen domino as a chance to rebuild and see what happens next.

So, when life hits you hard, try to keep things in perspective. All you have to do is to remember to breath.

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