Look For the Rainbow

The other day, I felt frustrated with myself. One of the things I’m trying to work on in my personal life is to be honest with others about what I want, even if it might lead to disagreement or conflict. Someone emailed me with a request that wasn’t my responsibility, but in the pressure of the moment, I emailed back and said I would meet their demand. Afterward, I was annoyed with myself. I started to engage in some negative self-talk: “Here you go doing the same thing again! Why can’t you stand up for yourself?”

Look for the Rainbow

When I get in situations like these, I try to keep the following mantra in mind: “Look for the Rainbow.” Part of being a human being is we don’t always live up to the ideals or goals we set for ourselves. We aren’t perfect, and sometimes we don’t do what is in our best interests. These choices can have negative consequences for our lives.

Where is the Lesson?

But I’m always curious about whether there can be some good that can come out of our mistakes or negative experiences. What can we learn from what happened that can improve our lives moving forward? Where is the lesson? If I can improve my life, the mistake isn’t wasted.

From my experience the other day, I learned something important about my struggles with being honest with others. I learned that when I feel pressure to respond in the moment, I don’t always make good decisions. Whenever I feel pressure to respond, it would be valuable for me to stop and press the pause button on my response. Perhaps it would even be in my best interests to talk over the situation with someone I trust before responding.

Was it a good thing that I wasn’t honest about my thoughts and feelings? No, not really. I got stuck in a situation where I committed to something I didn’t want to do. But there was a lesson in it that will help me in my life moving forward. When you find yourself in a situation where you made a mistake and are feeling down about it, look for the rainbow. Where is the lesson?