Psychology

Relax, Nothing Is Ever Wasted

If I could have only 3 things on a desert island, one would be a dictionary.

I never said I was practical.

Being a word nerd has other perks, like getting to “Genius” (90% of possible points) in the NY Times Spelling Bee daily. And being a competitive, Type A soul, I really hate to miss any words, whether commonplace or archaic.

Once I missed a perfect “Queen Bee” score because of “pelf”.

For you word geeks reading this, it means money, especially gained in a dishonest or dishonorable way. Never heard of it? Yeah, me too. IMHO, “pelf” should have been thrown out because it’s too obscure.

I was so mad at the NY Times that “pelf” became seared in my memory.

And then, one day, it was the word that clinched my “Queen Bee” crown in another puzzle.

My point being, nothing is ever wasted in life.

I’m not encouraging you to focus on silver linings in order not to feel pain. Spiritual bypassing is just another clever avoidance technique. Leaning into whatever life lessons The School of Hard Knocks serves up will always be more valuable.

Wisdom is earned, not bestowed.