Learning from It All

This is a hard one. It sounds really good in theory but when it comes down to it, I don’t like to think about areas where I have failed. I would rather close the book on them and move forward.

Slow down for a minute and take an inventory of lessons learned, stories to be retold and principles of life that make you who you are.

Here’s my example. Almost two years ago I was fired. For the first time in my career, I was asked to step down from a dream job. It stung! I was angry and frustrated with the whole situation. I had a choice: blame everyone else in anger or learn all I could from this difficult situation.

Here are a few of the lessons I learned:

Use the setback as a reset button

I was working very hard at fulfilling the vision of someone else. I was exhausted at the end of the day and had to time work on my next book. I focused on finishing up my book The Power of Hope in Mourning. It is possible that I would not have ever found the time to do so if I had continued working that job.

Address your beliefs about yourself

I grew exponentially during this time because I began to see that my mistakes did not have be magnified as long as I learned from them. I started treating myself more kindly as I was able to gain God’s perspective on the situation. Initially I was angry at the people involved and at myself for allowing myself to get into this situation. I chose to release the anger and embraced the lessons. This decision made my others did not make me a failure.

Move forward

The main lesson that I learned is that I am resourceful and able to get back up to move forward to do what only I can do. I have a bright future and true success is in my reach. I continue to journal on lessons learned and am so grateful for all the experiences of my life.

Have you ever had a setback like mine? How did you get through it? What did you learn from it?

Karen Sebastian is an author, blogger, corporate trainer and gifted speaker who transparently shares the hope she has found in the darkest times of her life.  She is a seasoned entrepreneur who founded HOPEpreneurs, a consulting firm dedicated to helping women succeed personally and professionally. Karen is known as The Hope Lady because she  takes every opportunity to inspire hope by sharing her rich life experience with others – engaging them in adventurous discoveries of the beauty of hope in a dark, cloudy world.