Putting yourself in a healthy situation does wonders for your overall wellbeing. But have you ever thought about how a stressful situation can be good for you too? Before you do a double-take and say ‘Grace, are you CRAZY?’, let me show you how you can make good out of a bad situation and learn a valuable lesson along the way.
Repeating history
Have you ever noticed that you get out of a messy situation – say a bad job, school or relationship – only to find yourself in the same boat again a little while down the road?
My friends, I assure you this is NOT déjà vu! The challenges in our lives exist to teach us a lesson yet sometimes we blame everything around us for our troubles. In the process, we miss looking inside of ourselves and realize the lesson that needs learning. Miss it and you set yourself up for the same messiness the next time it comes around (and believe me, it will!).
Learning that lesson
Even if you miss it, the universe has a funny way of pushing us into a corner when we refuse to learn a lesson the gentle way. Here’s a little story to illustrate this:
I had a friend who really needed to get out of her job. She worked long hours, gave 110% yet never seemed to be appreciated. She complained about it for years but never did anything to change it. Then one year, the company laid-off several people including her. She was devastated and couldn’t believe how that could happen after all she’d given.
Once she got over the initial shock, she quickly realized there had been many signs over the years that it was time to move on. She just didn’t pay attention to them and kept giving more and more without setting boundaries until she was a mess.
The story does have a happy ending! When she reflected and took accountability for her role in the situation, she quickly recognized what she would do differently in the future. The best part of the story is months later, she was hired by one of the company’s competitors with a 30% pay increase, a much shorter commute and tons of flexibility and autonomy.
Being brave
It takes courage to step up and make changes because the unknown can be scary. But staying stuck in the same spot and running up against the same exhausting situations is worse.
Are you in déjà vu situation?? What lesson do you need to learn before you’re pushed into that corner?