MOTIVATION: Mistakes are gifts full of valuable experience.

   Author: S. Gordon-Jeffery

When we think of the past some of us will have fond memories: the kind that will put a smile on your face. For others, the past is a very painful place, so painful that by thinking of it, it causes physical and mental distress.

The past may be more useful to you than you think! Here's how:


1. Experiences

Whether good or bad, experiences can provide us with what I call "reference information", which is basically knowledge you received from the experiences you've had in the past. So say for example you're baking a cake and you want to add a twist to the flavor so you add in cinnamon because you like the smell and taste of cinnamon, and you want to find out how it will taste in your cake, plus you're hoping that by adding cinnamon, your family will also fall in love with the spice like you have. You have one problem though: the original recipe never included cinnamon, you therefore have no clue how much to add to your cake ingredients so the flavor isn't overpowering and spoils the taste.

Well, say you decide to 'try a ting' and use as much as you think is a decent amount. Long story short: di cake taste a bear cinnamon almost to choke on.

Looking at the scenario you can say the cake spoil and you might have to throw it away, but there are two (2) things to learn from the experience:
i. You used too much cinnamon so you can adjust the amount used
ii. It's also a possibility that cinnamon was not a good idea to use in the first place

You can therefore opt to try again with less cinnamon or decide not to use any when next time you bake. If you do decide on trying again, the possibility may be you will fail but it could also mean sweet victory! Either outcome you're better off because you gained a new experience. You grew.


Career point: In the working world, an employer is more likely to hire an experienced candidate over a person with certification but no experience. Why do you think that is? Share your thoughts in the comments section below this post.

2. Knowledge

Going through the experience gives you knowledge you never had previously. That knowledge will or at least should guide your steps. You are no longer a novice and can therefore make a better choice and/or be a manual for another person who has no clue what to do. You therefore become the teacher.

3. Wisdom

What the elderly lack in strength and youthful vigour, they more than make up for in wisdom. They can look at a situation and off the bat tell you if it will work. 9 out of 10 times they've lived through the situation before (sort of). You know that song 'Same roles different cast', so they've been there, know what you're doing right or wrong and can give advice.

The past may hold difficult memories but it doesn't mean it's worthless to you. It's laden with gems of wisdom.

From my experience when I look back at some experiences, I now see a few things that to my older, wiser self would be blatantly apparent. But... if I hadn't gone through the experiences then I wouldn't know what was wrong, and I wouldn't be able to look back and assess what happened and learn from the mistakes.

And maybe I wouldn't be here writing this blog.

The past may be in the past but lessons learned are always with us. Use them wisely.


Thanks for reading folks! You're welcome to share and leave a comment. God bless!