Learning from experiences

Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.
-Victoria Holt

Lately I’ve had several work and personal situations that followed the same pattern:

1. I put a lot of time and effort into a project.
2. It did not go as I had hoped, and I was disappointed.
3. Then, something changed, and the project turned out even better than I planned.

After noticing this trend, I reflected on how I had dealt with the disappointments. I was glad that I hadn’t wasted too much energy feeling frustrated, angry or sad because in each case, things ended up better than I had originally hoped for.

I’m glad for the positive endings. But even if I hadn’t been happily surprised, what good would it have done to dwell on the negative? Naturally, I was dissatisfied when at first, I didn’t get the results I wanted. However, those feelings were softened by focusing on what I had learned from the experiences.

In addition to the coincidence of this pattern occurring several times within a few weeks, what I remember is that the positive outcomes were unexpected. I was going down paths with clear visions of end results that did not materialize.

As it turned out, the work I did along the way was the important part. I learned from the experience…and it turned out wonderfully.

Tags: being open to the unexpected, expectations, learning from negative experiences