What doesn’t kill you . . .

I would be angry, the frustration would build up, and the tears would come, but I didn’t really have much of a way to stop them. I would promise myself that I would speak better the next time, I would speak slower, and the words would be clearer.

When I think about my stutter and stammer as a kid, I remember more than a few awkward, tearful moments like this one. As a kid and a few years after college, I stuttered. I used to describe it as a stammer with my brain working faster than I could physically process words coming out of my mouth.

I wrote about my stutter this past Monday in my post, Overcoming my stutter, and explained how I seemed to have the most problems sounding words that started with s-, t-, ch-, sh-, and th- and tried to avoid them.

Actress Emily Blunt described the feeling perfectly: “I was a smart kid and had a lot to say, but I just couldn’t say it. It would just haunt me. I never thought I’d be able to sit and talk to someone like I’m talking to you right now.”

While my stutter and stammer caused frustration, it brought some other feelings I wasn’t expecting. Like the old wives tail goes, I learned the meaning of “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” My stuttering challenges helped me to become a stronger writer, made me empathetic toward others, and better able to deal with adversity.

I write more on these blessings in disguise, how stuttering turned me into a fighter, and helped me overcome in my post, Grateful to be forged in fire, on The Heart of The Matter.

Have you had challenges in your life that you’ve been able to turn into silver linings? How were you able to overcome the challenges and are you now grateful for them?

Related Story:

Grateful to be forged by fire

on The Heart of The Matter.