On Losses & Lessons
And words that find us at just the right moment
The first few weeks of 2025 have been filled with days that seem to have weeks packed into them. The sort of thing where I'm certain it's Thursday, but it's only Tuesday. I'm not sure exactly what has caused this, but it likely has something to do with kicking the year off with a week of boil water restrictions and two snow storms that led right into the first week of classes. It's been a whirlwind.
One that I don't feel I've navigated particularly well. I'm left with a sense that I should have done something differently or better. Seen something coming and prepared for it. Navigated the whole thing with more gratitude and less grouch. All around, just been… better.
In the middle of this running litany of self-doubt, I ran across a LinkedIn post from someone I really admire talking about her losses in the first four months of her journey as a solo entrepreneur. She ends the post with this thought:
Let’s make it a norm to celebrate our Losses just as much as our wins. They remind us where we need to grow, how to pivot, and what really matters. - Shanice Webb
I sat there at my desk and re-read that last bit a few times: where we need to grow, how to pivot, and what really matters. And then I took a deep breath (or five) and thought about the note I have at the top of my weekly planner: what can I learn?
Slowly the lessons are starting to come into focus: the strategies I can put in place to help better prepare for difficult but predictable things; the people I can ask for help (because no matter how many times I think I can just handle it all myself, I can't); the gravity problems I need to recognize before I berate myself for not being able to solve the unsolvable.
But the biggest lesson in all of this perhaps is that we're not alone. We all have professional losses next to our professional wins. AND we all have the power to grow, to pivot, and to focus on what really matters.
This Week Last Year
Was all about making the right choices for yourself, even if they don't make sense to anyone else.
When It Makes Sense to You, But Not to Anyone Else
I find myself thinking about congruence a lot for someone who isn't a mathematician or scientist. In fact, I use the term so much in a different context that when I just googled it in search of an official definition, I was surprised by the pictures of same-sized triangles and mentions of geometry.
Squirrel of the Week
This adorable squirrel wearing a sweater and holding an acorn of yarn showed up in my mailbox last month. It didn't take me too long to unravel the mystery of which knitter friend sent him my way. (Unravel, see what I did there?! Also, thanks Jenni!) If you knit (or just want your own squirrel in a sweater) check out Twill & Print.
What lessons have you found amongst your professional losses? Any epic pivots or tiny tweaks that made a difference for you? Have you read something lately that was just what you needed at just the right moment?