The One Bad Decision That Almost Ruined My Life

The Choice That Would Alter Everything

It was something small, I knew, at the time just one choice that I didn't think would mean much. I was mistaken.

It began innocently enough. A spontaneous choice, a desire to shave a corner, to win the easy victory. And for awhile, everything was okay. But unbeknownst to anyone, I had made a decision that would alter my life forever.

The Consequences of That Choice

At first, the blowback wasn't evident. But incrementally, the fissures seeped in. It was not until much later that I realized how appallingly I'd messed it up.

I lost people. I lost opportunities. I lost trust in others, and in myself.

The tragedy of poor choices is they don't always come crashing down all at once. For a few, it is a slow-motion, creeping thing, like a poison that infuses your life without you even noticing.

How It Felt to Lose Everything

I wasn't injured by the losses out there. I was injured by the damage inside. The guilt. The self-hatred.

I was ashamed of myself for being so stupid, so self-absorbed. I was questioning myself, again and again, "How did I not see it?" How had I allowed something so silly to bring so much down?

Worst of all, it wasn't that we lost everything. It was realizing that I could be accountable for myself.

The Turning Point

It reached to rock bottom for me to realize that I just couldn't continue wallowing in my failure or I could stand up and attempt to begin again. And it wasn't nice. I had to be realistic with myself that I couldn't turn back the clock. I couldn't reverse my bad decisions and make them good.

But I could learn from them.

What I Learned

That poor decision taught me things that I would have never learned any other way. It.

Patience is vital. Good things only come to those who wait.

Short-term gains are never worth jeopardizing long-term bliss.

Every decision counts, no matter how insignificant it may be.

I've learned to stop and think first, to take into account the consequences, and to take responsibility for one's actions.

The Recovery Process

It didn't come overnight, rediscovering my life. Years went into fixing the hurt and there are some things that can't ever be fixed. But I did one thing a day that brought me closer to recovery. I rebuilt my sense of self, began anew at the most important stuff, and new friends helped build me again, step by small step.

The best thing that I learned? It's not about not having been a mistake — it's about getting up after you fall.

Final Thoughts

We have all made mistakes. Some are gigantic. Some are infinitesimal. But no mistake is the end of your story unless you make it the end of your story.

It's easy to regret a bad decision. It's harder, but it's worth it, to learn from it, to grow from it, and to move on from it. We are not our mistakes we are how we respond to them.

If you've made a bad decision, remember: it's never too late to make things right.