Time for a PEP SESSION!  These pep sessions are designed to hype you up for challenges that may come your way. Today’s pep session is about moving on with your life after a rough time. After a tough chapter, life goes on—but the highs and lows will continue to come in cycles and repeats. There is something you should be sure to do after you have come out of a rough time. Find it in today’s pep session!

Winds have blown. Trees have fallen. Dirt has been thrown. Finally, the clouds are breaking, and the breeze is little calmer. Does this sound like your life? At one point or another we've all been through a stormy period of time. The most important thing is that you survived. You have made it to the other side to witness a brighter day. So now what?

(Hint: you’re not gonna like it.)

Now that you’ve emerged in one piece, it’s time to learn from that recent storm. The experiences you’ve just weathered were kind of like an emotional masterclass: you’ve been exposed to new skills, which you can now apply to relevant situations going forward. The material you learned may benefit you during harder challenges in the future. Think of it this way—you learn material from algebra before you reach calculus because algebra covers basics needed for calculus. Makes sense, right? That same line of reasoning applies to learning from your past. 

To disregard a previous experience would be a waste of your time. If you don’t learn from a previous mistake, you’ll continue to make the same mistake. You’ll be stuck in a cycle. A repetitive mistake eats away at your self-esteem. You are too good to let yourself be caught up in what could have been resolved. Don’t ignore the lessons you’re meant to learn from an experience!

As opposed to dwelling, the ability to acknowledge and remember the experience will help you grow. The lessons from past storms will not always be evident—a lesson may only reveal itself to be useful when you come across a situation forcing you to recall that information. You never know when the knowledge you’ve learned in the past will be useful to you. Suddenly a small, almost-forgotten moment in your life will become relevant to your current self. Life has a weird way of lining itself up.

Most importantly, learning from your past will help you move on with your life. Getting past a tough time is an advantage for your future self: you know yourself a bit more. You know your strengths, your weak points, your tolerance level, and you have found out more about how you respond to certain situations. As Oprah has said: “when you know better, you do better!” You are more equipped to take on a new challenge when you have some experience—in other words, you can do better now that you know better. 

Those lessons from past experiences will come up randomly—that’s how life works, after all. In the meantime, don’t forget to celebrate! After all, you made it out of that rough patch: you have been given another chance to be the best that you can be. Of course, being your best does not mean you pretend to be superhuman. Make sure to handle your work and maintain self-care. You deserve a break. Take some time for yourself. Recharge yourself. Until those old lessons need to be put to use, you can relax and focus on living your best life.

Okay, break! Nice pep session. Do you feel uplifted? Refocused? Keep these thoughts with you as you go about your day—and know that, whenever you need a pep talk, this little sermon will be here waiting for you.