It was a lesson
February 5, 2024•219 words
Remember these four words: It was a lesson.
For any regret, any missed opportunity, any pain from the past whatsoever: It was a lesson.
But it’s only a lesson if something was learned.
Most of my regrets come from times I was selfish, dishonest, timid, or cowardly.
The right lesson to learn from these are to be more generous, more honest, bolder, and more courageous.
The wrong lesson would be to assume that those mistakes define me forever and I cannot fix them in the future.
The past is unchangeable.
Few things in life are undeniably true but that is one of them.
No one has gone back in time and changed a decision or done something differently.
Many of us wish we could go back and share with our younger selves what we know now.
But no one can.
Instead, our younger selves were trying things and making the best decision they could, with what they knew at the time in order to teach us things we needed to know.
I have learned that each misstep was a lesson.
It was a little dose of pain to guide me toward better future decisions.
It was a teacher pointing out my mistake.
It was a compass urging me to correct course.
Remember these four words: It was a lesson.