I recently stumbled across a quote I’ve heard before, though I don’t know who authored it:
“Four things you can’t recover: the stone after the throw, the word after it’s said, the occasion after it’s missed, the time after it’s gone.”
This got me to thinking about the last article I published, where I asked the question, “Do you learn when you lose?” By that I mean, do you learn from failure—do you change and improve when you make a mistake?
In my opinion, the “four things you can’t recover” all represent mistakes—things you wish you hadn’t done, actions you wish you could take back. So my next question is this:
“What lessons have you learned from failure?”
Specifically, was there a stone you threw or word you said that you later regretted, but which served to teach you a valuable lesson or promoted an important change in your life? Or perhaps there was a particular occasion or time that passed you by for which you longed for afterward, and hindsight taught you to not miss or waste similar experiences in the future?
I’d like to hear (and learn from!) your stories. So if one comes to mind, please share by sending me a message. Depending on the responses I receive, I might put together another article or two about those lessons learned!
Give it some thought. Even if you don’t share your story with me, spend some time in personal reflection about the lessons you’ve learned from a failure or mistake. No doubt it will help you change, improve, and succeed in the future!
