gas station revelations

there is a bp gas station across the street from my neighborhood that i frequently visit numerous times a week. this is the same gas station that i would buy alcohol from numerous times a week, sometimes a day, once upon a time. i went to the bp today and one of the gas station attendants had some outside perspective to share with me. keep in mind that i dont have a relationship with her, per say, i just buy energy drinks from this woman and exchange casual "have-a-nice-day" 's with her. according to her, i have changed over the past few months. she said when she first saw me she thought i wore to much make up (very blunt of her) and i seemed like "a hot mess". she was essentially saying i came across as a train-wreck that tried to disguise it under the excessive make up. (pretty accurate.)  she stated that lately and since i have been with brock; i seem calmer and serene, more beautiful, more put together and that i have just changed overall. id say this is something pretty profound to be said from someone who has no idea that i have indeed been working on changing and improving myself; that i am on the road to recovery. it was an unexpected source of encouragement and i am grateful that she shared her observation with me. 

"Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

"Never regret anything you have been through, because only with those trials will you become a better person the next day."