3 Things That Happen When You Give Thanks To Failures

Giving thanks to failures? Confusing right? Good. That’s entirely the point of today’s Thanksgiving Day post. It’s easy to be thankful for the things that come easy, and the things that are stable in our lives. It’s harder to be thankful for things that didn’t go as planned. Looking back on the last year and a half, there’s been so much change in my life. Positive change, negative change, and major growth across many different sectors of my personal world. In the moment, the hard parts were confusing and frustrating, especially given the amount of hard work and love I put into my actions and goals. It wasn’t until later this year that I really understood the reasons why. I’m here to offer a virtual hug to those of you that might be amid your own personal struggle and let you know it’s going to be just fine. Here’s why.

Failures are always a lesson.

Finding the lesson is often the hardest part. I can’t tell you what your lessons will be, but I can share how to make them easier to discover. It’s often the thoughts that are right in front of you, the stuff you’re talking yourself out of. Who’s watched American Hustle here? It reminds me of the quote at the beginning about how we actually con ourselves into certain mindsets. I was the victim of that many times before in the past few years. It’s often the stuff we refuse to see that ends up being the lesson we need to learn the most. Trust your instincts when it comes to situations and people. We are made up of energy, so it makes sense that we feel certain gut reactions in daily life. Don’t brush it off.

You learn more about who you are.

It’s easy to think you’re a certain type of thinker or action taker, but it isn’t until you hit a major roadblock that you really find out what type of person you are, and what you’re made of. Are you someone who resorts to self-sabotage when things are going well? Do you resort to taking things out on others around you? The question to ask yourself is why. It’s less about the things that happen around you, and more about the core of who you are and how you choose to react. My favorite way to cope is freewriting. Instead of taking things external, it allows me to get all the mess out on paper in the privacy of my own mind. It’s therapeutic. If writing’s not your jam, take a solo walk and just sit for a while in silence. No music, no external factors.

Try opposite actions/routes to getting things done.

I do these things through fashion as well. It’s a way to think outside the box, and put things together I wouldn’t normally. This outfit is one of them. I selected them from Rent The Runway for 3 separate looks and ended up bringing them together last minute before I shot it a few weeks ago in Central Park. Look for hidden beauty, hidden feelings. It’s likely the most rewarding thing you’ll ever do, and realize that you control your path to a beautiful and successful future.