It’s not hard to appreciate a bad decision.
“I should not have given that client my cell phone number”
“I should not have used the cheapest electrician I could possibly find”
“I should not have eaten that shrimp appetizer”
Bad decisions stand out because of the obvious and painful consequences they bring. Good decisions, by contrast, are often invisible and unappreciated.
No one thanks you for spaying their dog when they don’t get a pyometra. None of us will ever celebrate the pain and drama you avoided by having a hard conversation other people would have shied away from. Pet owners will never know how much shorter their pets’ lives would have been or how many more health problems their pets would have had if you hadn’t pushed them to be vigilant about weight control.
Be careful about evaluating yourself based only on the things that have gone wrong or on mistakes you have made. Remember that good decisions almost always lead to silence instead of celebration. This is why the true mark of experience is a quiet life.
About the photo: If you don’t have deviled eggs at Thanksgiving, did you really have Thanksgiving? Not eating all three platters of deviled eggs was my good decision that seemed underappreciated last weekend…
