Finding Life’s Lessons

Posted by Debbie Dickerson in Advice, Life

How many times have you thought to yourself, “Okay, I believe I have learned the lessons I am supposed to now please just let me be on Easy Street!”? I can’t count how many times I have thought that exact phrase, then BAM! here is another needed lesson. Why? Because clearly I didn’t learn it right the first time. Life is filled with these comically painful lessons, but it is when you fail to find the lesson that it becomes non-comical. Of course, I am speaking of it being comical once the pain subsides, until then, there is very little funny about it. It is only funny in hindsight.

I have been blessed to live a great life filled with happiness, sadness, financial ups and downs, successes, and failures. My journey has taken me on a roller coaster ride thus far. I am a Life Enhancing Coach and as a coach, I use my life experiences to help many other people. Even if it is uncomfortable at times, I make sure to keep myself on level and real. I eliminate all the fluff and get to the helpful, relatable experience/advice.

Finding life’s lessons is not an easy task all the time. Take relationships as an example. Most people repeat the same mistakes over and over until they find the lesson and take action to change themselves. Did you read that correctly? I said, change themselves! Your life lesson will NEVER come in the form of somebody else changing. It will always be you that changes…hence the words your life lesson. How many like relationships have you been in? Look at abusive relationships. Physical, Verbal, Mental, and emotional abuse. It is not a coincidence that it is repeated with each different mate. It is the woman or man getting involved with the same traits as the person before. Until they change their self-image, self-value, self-love, confidence level, and expectations…it will be repeated. Finding the lesson is the only thing that leads you to a better situation. Sometimes you find the lesson along the way.

Finding life lessons in your career sometimes seems like the longest most neck wrenching ride ever! For me, I grew up knowing that I would be an Orthopedic Surgeon, without question. Life happened and not wanting to do 12 more years of schooling trumped my then career choice. Then the roller coaster started clicking slowly up the hill. I was attending college and working in sales as well as a few odd ball side gigs. Hands up, the cart is on the drop! I did modeling, waitress/serving, crappy acting gigs, marketing, sales, and advertising sales for the next 20 years. Along the way I got married and had two beautiful boys. The roller coaster continues. We relocated to Texas from California and I decided I did not want to continue with advertising sales. I always knew I wanted to help people in one way or the other, but at this point I was researching my options. For the first time ever, I walked into a staffing agency, spoke with the owner and he offered me a sales position on the spot. I jumped in head first and fell in love with the helping aspect of the industry. I flourished in this industry, absolutely loved it…until I no longer did. This is when I realized that I am a Coach. I am a superb coach that literally changes people’s lives…and then I opened myself up to get paid for my services. The life lesson’s that I learned from my jobs was that be flexible and take risks. Even though you may not fully know everything about a position, you can take your lessons from the past and apply them to this one and see where it takes you. I believe that as long as you are open, flexible, and follow your passions, the right career will come to you and it will be undeniable. This lesson for me has also bleed into my life on many occasions.

Sometimes life’s lessons come from other people’s doing. This is the hardest part of my coaching business. When people were physically, sexually, or verbally abused as children, helping them to find the lesson that has led them to where they are today is a very tangled web. As a Coach, I do not dwell on the past in any situation. I help my client’s find their lesson and apply it to today so that tomorrow is not a rerun of yesterday. The life lesson that you must take from being abused is the strength and empathy that you gained from it. Other than that it is simply the act of a psychopathic person that is a pure waste of oxygen. That is my advice on abuse. I do not think there is a lesson in reliving it or rehashing it…simply identifying how it made you stronger and how you will use that to your advantage now. None the less, there is a life lesson and it is crucial that it is found.

In life’s lessons, it is mandatory for you to accept that you cannot make other people have the same life lesson as you. Their life is for them to live, not you. I know it is very hard and painful to watch your loved ones go through life and find their lessons, however, it would be worse for them if you robbed them of finding their lessons. Keep in mind, your parents probably wanted or tried to tell you what to do in every situation…how many times did you listen? Think of the lessons you would have missed had you always listened to others advice!

To end this article, I would like to say that it is your life and your lessons. Choose to be happy! Choose to be confident! Choose to take risks! Choose to be kind and empathetic! Choose to absolutely love you and this fabulous journey that you are on. Life’s lessons are not always warm and fuzzy but they will lead you there! #life #advice #Inspirational