When things go wrong, we have the choice to either see them as broken or as a result of an imbalance in our approach. For example, issues may have resulted from moving too fast/too slow/too recklessly/too thoughtfully.
If we broke something, we are left with a limited set of next steps – typically mourn it or regret it/deal with the emotions, clean up the pieces, reflect on the learning, and move on. The hardest of these is dealing with the unpleasant feelings that follows breaking something valuable.
If we believe the situation went south because of an imbalance in our approach, on the other hand, the future is rife with possibilities. Sure, there may be a few tricky situations that need resolution. But, we get to approach them with the optimism that there’s a way back – we just need to do the work to right the balance.
Every once in a rare while, we do find ourselves dealing with situations where something was broken. But, for the rest of the time, at least in my experience, we’re dealing with consequences of an imbalance.
As a result, I’ve come to realize that approaching such situations as an opportunity to re-balance is a better, more constructive, way forward than treating something as broken.
Optimism is a self fulfilling prophecy.
