When things don't turn out as planned...

As we get older, we realize that things don't always turn out the way we planned, or the way we think they should.

For example, there may come a point where you concede that your bad back precludes you from becoming the rich professional basketball player you aspire to be.

Or, it becomes clear that you won't be going on a date with the new office secretary you've been ogling for months after realizing she has a boyfriend.

Additionally, we come to terms with the sobering reality that troublesome relationships cannot always be fixed. As much as we may try, they may never go back to being the way they were in the beginning.

Our relationships with certain people may become frayed or fall apart completely. Sometimes it's one person's fault, or it may very well be that both people are to blame.

Nonetheless, it can be difficult to see a relationship we envisioned lasting a lifetime go down the tubes.

But we must all accept that people and circumstances change.

Maybe you couldn't get a degree because you had to work full-time upon graduating from high school to help your parents. Perhaps your relationship landed in choppy waters once you landed a job that requires overseas travel.

As I've said in earlier posts, sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. All we can do in such situations is decide how to react to them.

We can let these events tear us apart, or we can use them as valuable tools to help us grow and move on with our lives.

Just because things don't go exactly as planned doesn't mean you still can't reach your goals. It's like driving -- when a road is closed off, you may be forced to take a slightly longer route, but you're sure to get to your destination in due time.

Life is about remaining flexible, adapting, evolving. If things always remained the same, we'd never grow.

You should never lament a relationship or job gone bad because, in the end, such circumstances have helped mold you into the person you are today. Hopefully, they made you stronger, wiser, and more resilient.

Just because things don't turn out favorably doesn't mean we screwed up. It just means that, for better or worse, what we anticipate happening doesn't always align with reality.

Down the road, we may look back on that relationship or job that didn't work out for us and smile -- because it led us to an even better one!

When things don't go as planned, it probably means there are even better things in the works. Don't lose hope. This storm, too, shall pass.

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