The Good and the Bad

[Dingo]

Has anyone every had a moment in life, where good news turned out to make one feel bad, or bad news made one feel good.

This week I had the wonderful pleasure of having both of those at the same time.

The good news is that after more than half a year of trying to get approved for disability because of my Asperger Syndrome (I'm told I am a pretty bad case) it is finally granted. And that made me feel so bad, because it means that I could just as well have a big stamp on my forehead that says 'unfit to work' or 'useless'.

The bad news is that I have been approved for disability. And that made me feel good, because it finally means that after more than half a year of being without income, I will now have what every person dreams of (until the political climate changes). I am financially independent, and while it's not much, it's more than enough for me to live on.

On the bottom line, these two conflicting emotions inside my head are causing massive headaches, but the good news is that I haven't slept so well in months. Instead of mulling in my sleep with subconscious thoughts I sleep like a baby, and I stress out during the day in my conscious moments.

But the original question posed is still there, has anyone but myself have had good news that made them feel bad, or bad news that made them feel good ?

[jouzinka]

A year ago I lost a very dear friend way too early. It came very unexpectedly and hit us all pretty hard. Well, I received the news from my sister who was pregnant at the time for some five months. And she has been having this bleeding issue and what not, basically, when I saw her ID on the phone, picked up and she was on the other end of the line, all tears, asking me if I was sitting down, I sincerely thought I knew what was coming: she had miscarried. When she told me our friend passed away, there was this brief moment, when I felt... relieved. :-\

So, yeah, I guess I know where you stand.

[Grakor]

The good news is that after more than half a year of trying to get approved for disability because of my Asperger Syndrome (I'm told I am a pretty bad case) it is finally granted.

You know, it's funny, because I was told I had the same thing. Don't know if that's true or not because it wasn't an official diagnosis, but it was from someone who had a son with it as well, and I'd take her at her word for it.

That would actually relate to a bad news/good feeling thing for me, or vica versa. As a kid growing up through school, I was always, always the introvert. I had basically had a small handful of friends my entire ride through school, and I lost all of them when I moved halfway through my sophomore year and ended up being alone. I was always socially awkward in real life, which is probably why I dove into computer games and the like instead. I couldn't bring myself to talk to anyone. You should have also seen me doing things like give speeches before a class, I break out into shakes.

Then someone tells me that I may have a psychological disorder. For most that would be bad news, but somehow...it made me feel better. Like I had an excuse for being how I am, and why I was always the odd man out in school. It's a horrible way of looking at it, and I even recognized that back then...but I don't know, I never could shake that feeling.

Er, and I apologize, because that sounded horribly angsty when I read over it again.

[Oniya]

Sort of the flip side of this - We're currently in debt up to our eyeballs, I'm the only one working, and every utility on the edge of being shut off.  Power and Internet are required for me to work.  Today, after being sent out for the groceries we needed, my husband comes back with 'a present'.  He'd bought me a dark chocolate bar.

With all the things that are due, and things looking pretty grim, I can't possibly enjoy it, knowing that the dollar he spent on that could have bought two cans of veggies.

[Greenthorn]

When my grandfather passed away, it was good and bad.  Bad because of the obvious...losing him, but good because well..as you know, Dingo...it was an extremely stressful time for me.  My life could finally go back to some sort of "normal".

I don't think this makes me a horrible person though.  I would give anything to still have him around, even if it meant having my world in chaos once again...but I also know that he was suffering...and really, so were we.  :-(