C’mon WordPress! This prompt is remarkably similar to one we had just last week.
Well, technically, it as asked” What Experiences helped you grow in life?” I, and several of the bloggers I follow talked about how hardship, adversity and failure helped us grow as people. But I’ll jump through the proverbial hoops again.
Being unsuccessful in my first stint as a teacher
I think my first attempt at teaching was unsuccessful for a multitude of reasons. I wasn’t assertive enough. I tried too hard to be “nice”; not the student’s friend mind you, but nice. Like so many other professions, most teacher will tell you that you’re going to suck in the first 5 years that you teach. This is ironic because most people who leave the profession do so in their first 5 years. My typical early teaching struggles were only exacerbated by the fact that X1 and I moved 800 miles away from our family, friends and support network. Once things really started going south in our marriage, I was on a proverbial island. It was only once I stared going to counseling for my anxiety that I realized just how much it had affected me.
After coming back to Michigan, I had to get my feet back under me. I had to get my teaching certificate updated. I took some jobs in some bad schools and in some rough neighborhoods. It was a real sink or swim situation for me; but it made me a better teacher and a better parent. If it wasn’t for my “false start” teaching in South Carolina, I would not be where I am today; nor would I be the teacher that I am now.
The greatest teacher, failure is.
Yoda
My Divorce
My divorce, specifically failing at marriage taught me what marriage is – and is not – supposed to be. Moving 800 miles away from Kid 1 was the hardest thing I ever have – or ever will – do in my life.
And being that far from kid 1 was devastating for me. So I started working out, a lot. I had never been a “gym guy” type so when I did this, I started looking better, feeling better and gained new levels of confidence.
My divorce reminded me that I have to take care of myself. It also showed me who in the hell I am. Oh, and my divorce also gave birth to this very blog.
The end of my LTR
I tried so hard to make this relationship work. In part because after my divorce, I had to make it work this time. It took me a long time to reconcile this. For years, I thought I was still hung up on X2, until I really did a mental deep dive on the subject. If my marriage taught what a relationship is supposed to be, my LTR taught me what I will, and will not put up with in a relationship. More than that, it taught me that having a girlfriend, a fiancée or a wife is not the end-all be all of human existence. It forced me to remember how to be happy with and by myself.
How has failure, or an apparent failure, set you up for later success?
Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts:
- A blueprint for 2026
- Acknowledge Me: The Simple Art of Being Seen
- Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
- A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
- The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
The article “The Greatest Teacher” originally appeared on Rebuilding Rob.
Rebuilding Rob 
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