Look On The Bright Side

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT

Over time, I’ve come to understand that the mistakes I think I’ve made are only experiences. Yes, I’ve made decisions I regret, and sometimes I wonder how such decisions could adversely affect my future. But I also trust the sovereignty of God and know that there is nothing He can’t turn around for good.

Since my days as an undergraduate, I taught myself to see the lessons in every experience, whether good or bad. I did this because I tend to dwell on the past and get depressed about it. So intentionally pointing out the lessons helped me cope with this. Now, this happens on a more subconscious level.

Having this skill has also helped me understand that in the grand scheme of things, what we perceive to be life-altering mistakes become the key ingredients in the message we share and the future we become. The message gets sweeter and more relatable as we tell these seemingly bad experiences to people currently in the rut.

Does this mean you should intentionally try to make every mistake under heaven since you’ll still have a future and hope? No, because bad decisions have consequences, some of which you can’t predict when or how they’ll happen.

When you’re able to look at the bad decisions of the past and say, “This is what I learned”, the future starts to look bright again. Yes, you’ll still have regrets, significantly when such mistakes have affected other people aside from you, but seeing the good in the experience will do three things for you:

• It will help you move forward to the next thing.
• It will allow you to apply the lessons in the next phase of life.
• It will help you avoid making such decisions again.

I’ve had mistakes that took me four months to recover from, as well as those that created a level of fear that I still battle with after several years. I’ve shared some of these experiences in previous posts and will continue to share. This is why it’s important to take life one step at a time. We’ll eventually overcome and use our lives to inspire others. God help us all.