Idioms to express relief/gratitude
One of my (Taiwanese) students asked me if there was an idiom to express mixed feelings of gratitude and relief when talking about something good having come out of something bad. The example she gave was missing a train and then later finding out the train had crashed.

I could only think of 'thanking your lucky stars' but I'm sure there must be something more appropriate. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Question

Idioms to express relief/gratitude
One of my (Taiwanese) students asked me if there was an idiom to express mixed feelings of gratitude and relief when talking about something good having come out of something bad. The example she gave was missing a train and then later finding out the train had crashed.

I could only think of 'thanking your lucky stars' but I'm sure there must be something more appropriate. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Answer

"Thank my lucky stars I missed that train."  Also works.

Answer

I honestly think "Thank goodness" would be very appropriate and natural here.
"breathed a sigh of relief" would fit as well
"Thank goodness I ended up missing that train. It ended up crashing!"
"I was distraught at missing the train, but I breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing about the crash."

Hope this helps :)

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