Throughout our lives, we constantly face new choices and experiences. Every single thing we face can lead to different outcomes and insights. Some of these experiences may be great ones, while others may bring us down. I remember, for instance, this one date I had many years ago. It was one of my first ever dates, and I was extremely nervous. We talked about meeting up for dinner, which did end up happening. However, everything seemed rushed, and although there were several red flags along the way, it took me some time to see that our intentions were not the same. At first, I was devastated. I kept replaying everything in my mind, trying to spot where I went wrong.

via Unsplash

However, as more time passed, I was able to get a different perspective on everything. I decided that I would stop blaming myself (as I usually do) – it’s pointless and damaging. I suddenly noticed all the red flags, all the odd behavior, everything that was there all alone, but I didn’t see. I didn’t allow this to take over me and my life, to bring me down. But, instead, I looked at this experience for exactly what it was – an experience. I saw it as an opportunity to grow and evolve. I looked at everything that I learned from the experience. I learned to make myself more clear, make my intentions more clear. From this experience, I’ve learned that I can trust and rely on my gut feeling. I learned from it what not to do in my next relationship and also what I should keep. I chose to look past this experience, which could have brought me down, and grow and learn from it instead. I chose to keep everything that was good in this experience and fix the bad. And this is what I try to do with all the experiences I go through in life. Every experience holds in it an opportunity to grow and evolve from it. It may take some self-work, but in the end, it’s all worth it.