A Negative Experience an Opportunity

Can a negative experience actually be an opportunity? Read a personal experience that I had and you decide. We hope you find our story inspirational and that the words express wisdom you can share with others.

Thought For The Day
A Negative Experience an Opportunity?
By Catherine Pulsifer

Early in my career a position became available which I thought I was entitled to. I had the experience and a good performance record. Much to my dismay it was given to an individual with a university degree. Someone it turned out, I then had to train. At the time it seemed so unfair to me.

I could have taken the attitude I had failed. However, I didn't allow this to be a failure. I refused to be beaten. It would have been easier for me to give up, or become bitter towards the company. However, I was determined I would succeed, and this was only a temporary detour.

My situation was not an isolated event. There are many thousands of people who find themselves in a similar situation across the world. It is a circumstance that can lead one to think that there is absolutely no reason to try or attempt to learn new skills or to work diligently or long hours in order to secure a promotion. The easy way out of these circumstances is to close down, to become tainted to the point that you do just enough work to get by and not be fired. Or, you become the real complainer at work and try to get as many of your colleagues to agree with you as possible and lead, therefore, an internal work rebellion so as to cause the new leader tremendous problems. All of these actions are negative – they do not help you, nor do they help any colleagues who agree to throw their actions behind you.

On the other hand, there is a much more positive way to react after you feel disappointment. These emotions should transcend to a call for action and not despair. This means that you throw yourself into your work in a different way – keep doing a good job for your employer but at the same time, find another way to prepare yourself for promotion. Nothing that is worth getting is ever easy, so why should a promotion you really want be any different? It is not.

I needed my job and didn't have the money to obtain a university degree, but I had determination and optimism. The company I worked for would pay for courses to attain a professional designation. I enrolled, and over the course of 9 years, (and two children) attained my professional designation.

Now, I know that nine years may seem like a long time to acquire a professional designation but it was worth it in the long run. Noticed that I said in the long run – sure it took time and work but I was looking to the future and not looking for a quick fix that seems to be the usual thinking. An investment of money does not turn into a fortune in the short term and neither does an investment in your own life and career. They both can take time to pay off but they do pay off with big dividends in a multitude of ways. Part of this pay off is satisfaction, knowing that you did it without anyone else’s intervention, or without taking the time, work and sweat to get what you really want.

I kept my positive attitude and turned a negative experience into an opportunity.

To quote Aldous Huxley,

"Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him."

You may be asking what happen to the person who got the position? They left the company and that position that I had wanted - I surpassed many times over.

So don't be discouraged when you don't obtain the things that you want in life, take action, set your goals, keep your attitude positive and success will come to you! It really boils down to your own attitude.