Daily Gratitude: “We do not learn from experience; we learn from reflecting on experience.”

This is similar to many others I’ve written but I think it’s one thing so many of us aren’t aware of.

We’re always telling people “that was a good learning experience for you.” But maybe that’s not what we should be saying. Perhaps it would me better to simply say “that was quite an experience you had. What did you learn when you looked at it (or reflected on it)?” In other words, we can help direct them and encoder them to do that reflection.

I bet you can find times in your life when you thought something was either “horrible” or “benign”. But if you took some time – either back then or now- you’d find out you actually learned so much.

It’s not uncommon for a “horrible” experience to turn into the best time of your life. And I don’t mean “best time” as in having fun or enjoying it. I mean that in the long run, your life turned out better than you could possibly have thought.

Take some time to reflect on this. And then help people who are going through tough times now.

Daily Gratitude: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become.”

The same applies when you don’t accomplish your goals. Often you learn more from not achieving something. The challenges you come up against teach you great problem solving along with resilience.

If you could just make a wish (list a goal) and have it come to fruition, what would you have learned? How would that have prepared you for what’s to come in the future?

You become more courageous when you go after something you really want. Fear seems to take a back seat when there’s something in your life that lights you up! The enthusiasm and energy propels you forward, often making you forget that you need sleep and food. When I see that in someone I get excited and when it happens to me, it’s ecstasy.

It’s those things, the excitement, enthusiasm and energy, that makes you a better person and teaches you so much about life. It’s possible that you may not realize it at the time, but at some point, you’ll understand how much you’ve changed.

Look back and see the events in your life that have produced change in you.

Daily Gratitude: “Every setback carries a message.”

I can attest to the truth of this statement. Let’s just talk about my training for Vol State this year (2026), not the race itself. I had so many setbacks that it was hard to just keep training and not get discouraged.

So what messages did I get?

I have to keep remembering the compound effect and that I have to be persistent and consistent.

This involves patience and my bank account for patience is not overflowing. Ha. That’s an understatement. But the patience is required when you think of the compound effect. Little by little my body (and mind) are getting tweaks with each day of training. This applies to mental preparation too.

That’s an even more important message – the mental aspect of this race is frequently more important than the physical. I learned that in my debacle last year. But that experience taught me so much.

Another message is that my brain is extremely powerful (as is yours). What i see its power in, however, is in creating physical symptoms that are neuroplastic (neural circuit disorders). I’ve had to work very hard to identify them and then overcome them. That, in itself, has reminded me that I should be able to deal with whatever develops during the race.

Of course the big test is going to be my left knee and leg and that’s where I’ll have to use whatever mental toughness I can muster.

These are only some of the messages and lessons from this one setback.

Can you look back at your life and see messages you’ve received from one or more setbacks?