We all have our own life lessons that we encounter. Some of us learn from them and some of us do not. How can we make sure we do learn from these valuable lessons?
In my last blog post I discussed connecting the dots in our life and why it is important. I believe that connecting the dots in our past helps us get through tough times. You can read that post Here.
I know in my own life I have learned more from my mistakes, failures and adverse times than I have my successes and great times. Can you relate?
For many of us we go through life lessons without ever really learning the actual lesson.
We all know people who repeat bad relationships one after the other. Why is that ? Simply they have not learned what they need to learn to move on to a new and better relationship.
This quote from Haruki Murakami says it well.
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
― Haruki Murakami
If we are not the same person when we come out of our life lessons does that mean we have learned from it? I believe it does not always mean we have learned and that we need a very conscious awareness of what the storm was all about.
How to learn from your life lessons
In my last post Is Connecting the Dots of Your Life Important I talked about how we can often only see why an adverse event happened in our life when we look back at it. Often when we are going through a struggle or tough time we have no idea why it is happening to us and certainly cannot see any possible gift in the situation.
This is where faith comes in and we must hold onto a belief we will get through this stronger than before. When we have connected the dots of our past life lessons it is easier to look at a current one knowing it will make sense eventually.
When we are in the midst of what appears to be an adverse situation we need to ask ourselves questions. Questions like:
- “What am I meant to learn from this?”
- “What is the lesson in this situation?”
- “What is the gift in this for me?”
- “What is right about this situation I am not getting?”
Keep asking and eventually the answers will come.
“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
Taking care of yourself helps you to learn from your life lessons
Here are some ways I like to take care of myself and access my intuition:
- Meditation – by quietening our mind we can access our inner guidance.
- Time in nature – walk along the beach or through a park. Be present to the beauty of the wildlife and nature itself.
- Exercise – walk, run, swim, do yoga or whatever else you enjoy doing to move your body.
- Eat healthy food and drink water
- Get enough sleep
- Laugh including laughing at yourself. For me laughter and a sense of humor is my most valuable tool to get my through tough times.
When you have come through a tough time be it a health challenge, a relationship difficulty, a financial crisis or any other how can you use it to help others?
Our learning from our life lessons can help others. If you have survived a situation let others know they can too.
“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
― Mary Oliver
Please let me know if you have any other ways you learn from your life lessons.
Have an amazing day!
Namaste
Sue
Liz Powell says
Thank you for this message, Sue. I love your tips – especially the last one. When I’ve taken a step outside of the situation and laughed at myself, I always feel better.
Sue Price says
Laughing at ourselves is the best medicine Liz so great you can do it. We can take ourselves way too seriously. Thanks for your comment.
Helen Lingard says
great share Sue – Im still waiting to know some of my lessons but yes there is a lesson in everything 🙂
Sue Price says
There is a lesson in everything Helen and they are not always clear. In fact they are often very disguised. I think you are doing a great job of learning yours from what I can see.
Kerry Lang says
Yes, well they say we learn from repetition which is great when it’s a positive lesson but can be a total disaster when it’s a painful and negative experience. Also I think we sometimes fail to learn as much as we could form our life lessons because we’re a little in denial as to why things happened the way they did.
Such a great post Sue – very intuitive.
Sue Price says
I agree Kerry when our lessons are negative experiences it is not good to repeat them. Many people do it again and again. I also agree denial can be a big reason we do not learn from some of our experiences.
Thanks for your great comment Kerry.
Akaahan Terungwa says
Hello Sue,
It’s awesome connecting with you again…as usual, reading you is a huge blessing.
Everything in life happens for a reason and nothing is truly random. However, as Steve Jobs held, “you cannot connect the dots looking forward…you can only connect the dots looking backwards”.
Sadly, few ever know that these dots even exist!
As always, my dear Sue, your writing is appreciated, your deep insight and wisdom felt.
Be certain to make the day great!
Always,
Akaahan Terungwa
Sue Price says
Hi Terungwa,
It is great to see you here, thank you.
I agree when you say that sadly few ever know the dots exist. It is such a shame many (if not most) people go through life blindly.
Thanks for your wonderful comment Terungwa and you too have a great day.
With appreciation,
Sue
Saurav Kumar Nayak says
Hi Sue,
Your blog is always full of inspirational post!
These are really helpful in making us happy and successful in our lives.
I have heard many times that failures are the important aspect towards success but I am always unable to relate it to my life.
I don’t feel like I have faced any of the major failures in life because I hardly give attention to my failures. I think the main problem is that I am unable to know the impact of my failure. Even if it is big one I am unable to drive it to do better.
Hope you have understood my problem!
With regards,
Saurav
Sue Price says
Hi Saurav,
You are blessed you have not experienced any major failures in your life and I hope you never do. I am sure though there are times things do not work out for you as you had hoped. It is in these times we can learn.
I think I understand what you are saying.
Thanks for your comment and for your feedback on my posts. Have a great day.
Sue
David Fa'anunu says
Wonderfully written Sue, you’ve touched up on many brilliant factors on how to overcome our failures. Meditation,Rest,Hydration & Exercises I can absolutely agree upon. Laughter is always a cure on so many levels and the Faith in our own abilties to push through those defining moments in our lives that can either make us, or break us.
Incredible lessons
Thanks Sue
Sue Price says
Thanks for your feedback on my post David and I am so glad your relate. Laughter is always a cure. 🙂
Have a wonderful day.
Sue
Rory Singh says
There is great power in ‘Life Lessons’. Powerful message here Sue. Thank you!
Sue Price says
Thanks Rory, yes there is great power in them.
Erica Udeanu says
That quote from Haruki Murakami sums it up beautifully doesn’t it?
Storms can be extremely character building … we just don’t realize at the time the full extent of the process. Thankfully storms clear, clouds dissipate and the sun always comes out tomorrow.
Beautiful post Sue!
Sue Price says
That is a great quote Erica and does sum it up beautifully. Thank you for your comment, much appreciation.
Shaun Trewern says
I have to plead guilty in the past to the unfortunate practice of ignoring life lessons as they are continually bashed over my head year after year. (Metaphorically speaking of course.) I am so glad that these days my method for dealing with things is a lot closer to your dot point list. lol An amazing post Sue, Thank You.
Sue Price says
I think most of us ignored our lessons Shaun until we became more aware. I sure did not grow up with an understanding of my choices. I just thought life happened to us.
Great to know you have changed the way you deal with things. Thanks for your comment and have a great weekend.
earl hackett says
Sue, Great post. We drive down the high way of life headed in a certain direction. We looking for a brighter future but sometimes, we run into dark tunnels but we must continue to look forward and not in the rear view mirror. After we have reached a certain destination and think back, that is when we connect the dots – to see if we have learned the life lessons along the way.
Sue Price says
You have put that so beautifully Earl. Thank you for such a wonderful example of how we only see how to connect the dots when we have reached a destination. I hope you are having a great weekend.
Kristine Christiansen says
Amazing post Sue!
I agree with Erica’s comment, the quote you shared by Haruki Murakami sums it up so well. I especially love this part, “But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
I truly believe that everything we encounter in life is meant to teach us, but it’s up to us to determine what those life lessons are and then use them to grow.
Great share, thank you!
Kristine
Sue Price says
Thanks Kristine and I too loved that quote. It says so much! Yes it is up to us to determine the lessons from our experiences and how we do that is so important.
Thanks for your comment.
Sue