You Do Make a Difference

I try to set out each day not thinking about the mistakes I might have made the day before.  Probably a real good idea for me, especially when I think of the last several days.  Nevertheless, I set out at work and in my personal life with the concept; how I can make a difference today.

I challenge myself to move my thoughts to a different place and contemplate something I have never done before. I look back on my "lessons learned" and question my assumptions. I try to find out why what I did before may have worked, why it failed and why the concept seemed to have promise in the first place.


See, just because something didn't work before, or perhaps we weren't to popular for it, does not mean you can't still learn from it. It may have been a humiliating failure or a roaring success, but there are still lessons to be learned in order to move on to the next thought or idea that may help make a diference for you or someone you care about or love.

Our past is our past.  Lord knows I've had one and I'd venture to guess we all have one with some moments in it that we'd rather not repeat.  What I took away from much of mine is that the experience helped me make a difference in my future.  While at the time I was going through some of those moments I may have been angry, felt let down or said some things that I wish I could take back, it was not the time for me to see the relevance or even a silver lining.  One thing is for sure, we learned from it. In more ways than one.  I'd even go out on a limb to say that I'll bet you are even a better person because of it and that you've made a difference in your life, your child's life and perhaps even with your family and friends too.

It is okay to re-live it, and re-evaluate what made it that success or failure and challenge your thinking. contemplate how you can do things better. Contemplate how you can take the knowledge learned in a whole new direction. Contemplate synthesis and re-organization. Think about consolidation and cutting out the nonesense and not repeating the same mistakes twice. Whatever needs to be done for you, try to do only those things.

Truly think outside the box and see what new combinations will occur in order for you to continue making a difference tomorrow and in the days yet to come.