This past year and a half has been a real character builder for me. I have learned several life lessons, many of which seem to coincide with past advice my parents had given me. You know, when they try to instill upon you what it is they have learned during their lifetime and you think to yourself, “right, what do they know?” Turns out they knew a great deal. Unfortunately, I had to make my own mistakes to learn the life lessons; I couldn’t just take their word for it. I guess that’s really not a bad thing. That’s how I learn and grow as a person. While enduring the hardships of said growing pains I may not be aware that I am undergoing a personal transformation. It’s later on down the road when I am looking back that I realize that maybe I hadn’t made the best decision, but I learned a big life lesson in the process. And that makes it worthwhile. I have also begun to realize that in making mistakes we really get to know ourselves. We are all going to make mistakes. The important thing is what we choose to do after we make a mistake. How we decide to remedy the situation. You have heard the quote, “it’s not how you fall, its how you pick yourself up again afterward.” If we recognize that we made a poor decision, and we do whatever is necessary to make it right, then in the long run we are better for it.
As I get older I have learned to take on a different attitude while dealing with life’s tribulations. Instead of being angry with someone or with a situation, I try to look at what I can take from the ordeal. It hasn’t been an easy road getting to the point of being able to do this. Sometimes I wonder if I have become numb towards outward circumstances, but I would like to think that over time I have learned to see the big picture. I understand that life doesn’t always go as we had hoped or planned. But you just have to roll with the punches. While something may seem like the end of the world while you are going through it, it isn’t. Life, it goes on. Instead of being negative and dwelling on the situation, I take what I can from it, and try to keep moving forward. It’s not always easy. But as you practice it and implement this way of thinking, it slowly becomes easier. Things don’t seem to hurt as much. I don’t take things as personally as I once had. Instead, I do the only thing I can. I learn from it.
