September 24, 2017

How Trials are "Lessons Learned", not Setbacks


“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is left behind and straining toward what is ahead.”—Philippians 3:13 (NIV)
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Let me start by thanking the wonderful people who read and share my posts. Some of you have been supporting me for years, and I’m so grateful!

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This article is inspired by my ultra-wise husband. He’s a highly skilled Information Technology professional. His occupation signifies his comfort with troubleshooting. He is a fixer of problems of all kinds. He’s solution-oriented.


I don’t know anybody more full of logic and common sense. John likes to plan how to get from point A to point B and have everyone and everything fall neatly into place. Unfortunately, life and human beings don’t always evolve in a straight path like an arrow.


Circumstances often play out similar to the curved arrow above. Detours and barriers are everywhere:
  • People can be sloppy, selfish, and uncaring. In some cases, they’re cruel or evil.  If we work with them, or are related to them, this attitude particularly affects our agenda.
  • Equipment frequently malfunctions.
  • Loved ones sometimes make poor decisions.

Challenges in the Workplace

My husband told me a story about the great attitude at his office when projects don’t go according to plan:

He works for a department of the federal government, so if something fails, it bombs big time. One mistake could set the organization back hundreds of work hours and millions of dollars. The entire Congress of the United States could also be delayed if their conduit of information is temporarily dried up. That’s not something Paul Ryan or Nancy Pelosi would want to hear!
After hours of overtime and being on call 24/7, the situation is resolved. That’s when the troubleshooting team has a meeting called “Lessons Learned”. They don’t play the blame game. The workers objectively discuss what went right and wrong, and then they decide how they can improve their performance in the future.
What Challenges Teach Us

Life is full of difficult lessons, but they can move us forward. My husband and his co-workers learn from their costly mistakes. As a result, those in authority sometimes change their game plan. The rest of us can also gain valuable insights from our trials:
  • Who we can trust
  • What foods, drinks, and medicines are healthy for our bodies
  • Our strengths and weaknesses
  • The most efficient way to accomplish our goals
My Conclusion

“Have faith in your journey. Everything had to happen exactly how it did to get you where you’re going next.”--@InspowerBooks_
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“Never blame anyone in your life. Good people give you happiness. Bad people give you experience. Worst people give you a lesson and best people give you memories.”—www.wisdomquotesand stories.com
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Frequently, people and situations can’t be fixed. Nature can’t be tamed. Individuals are allowed to use their free will in a negative manner, if they so choose. This is annoying and often unfair. Since certain situations and people are beyond our control, the best thing to do is to look at unjust situations as preparation/information to change our future.

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What is your “take away” from challenges?

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