“Failure is a great teacher. If you’re open to it, every mistake had a lesson to offer.”
– Oprah Winfrey
I am a huge advocate for focusing on the good and leaving the past behind us. I'm all about living in the present and hopeful for the future. My motto is, Excited Anticipation. Accept whatever unfolds. Although, if there was an exception to examining our past, I feel it should involve reflecting on our stumbling blocks and wrong turns. Oprah is right, there are lessons we can learn from our plans that did not quite work out or actions that set us back. Most of us have heard of Thomas Edison's relentless efforts to create a better lightbulb after thousands of iterations.
While Edison never gave up on improving the light bulb, I look at personal growth in the same light, pun intended. The only way we can truly keep creating better versions of ourselves is by improving on our past and current versions. Otherwise, we deny the opportunity to grow as individuals. I also subscribe to the idea of soul growth. I believe the learning and growing continues after we die and preceded us before this lifetime. The more I grasp this concept, the more I want to stimulate my personal growth during this incarnation.
Photo by Jordan Donaldson on Unsplash
While I have thought this way for most my adult life, I still ignore or forget important lessons I have learned so far. Repeating mistakes only hinders my personal growth trajectory. I do my best not to get down on myself, but I also remind myself that I'm here to level up in life, just like a video game. If I keep playing the same level over and over, it's like I'm refusing to evolve to the next stage of my life. While I have leveled up in so many ways, there are certain areas of my life where I have plenty of room for growth. Some of the tools that will help me immensely are determination, courage, perseverance, focus and discipline. It's up to me to leverage them so I can learn and keep growing into better versions of myself.
Whether you are in your twenties or seventies, or somewhere in between, we all still have room to learn and grow. We do not stop learning as we get older. We get wiser. At least, that's the point, right? We cannot get wiser and keep growing into better versions of ourselves if we do not apply the lessons we have learned along the way. To me, that is what life is all about. That's how we level up, whether it's here on Earth or on some other plane of existence. Otherwise, we stay stagnant, not seizing opportunities for growth. I choose to keep applying what I learn from the missteps and setbacks. They are reminders to keep going and keep growing.
Mpre Wellness!
