Sometimes you can do all the right things and not succeed. And that’s a hard lesson of reality.
– Donna Tartt
How many times have I crossed paths with this well-hidden truth? More than I can count. When we inevitably meet, I’m surprised at the visit, as if I believed we would never meet again.
I am convinced of my own invincibility. If I put my mind to something I should be able to figure it out and succeed. But then, as sometimes happens, I don’t, and I’m baffled over what I could have done differently and the thousands of if-only scenarios.
The hard lesson is not to follow the baffled thinking down that long, dark rabbit tunnel where no answers live or thrive. I have to stick with being okay with doing what was needed and knowing that, that was enough.
What is life but a series of circumstances and events that we move through and hopefully live though. If we’re still living and breathing, we most likely have a chance to do something else, try something new, begin again.
There’s no need to get lost in the muck of trying to relive what’s already been lived. We can learn from what’s passed, assess what went wrong, and remember for later, but we can’t manifest a redo.
Image Source: nps.gov
Weathered Well 
