The power of wrong choices: 3 huge mistakes that lead me to my dream trip

“Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”
―    Mahatma Gandhi

Sometimes our mistakes are just a smart  tool for the subconscious to point us to our real dreams.

Today, being a very SPECIAL DAY, I decided to  open up and reveal 3 of my biggest mistakes, and why they turned out to be some sort of  blessing.

In 1 day and 17 hours I will be on a plane heading to South East Asia for the trip of my life and, whilst being emotional, confused and overly happy,  I also keep  asking myself the same old question: how exactly did I  get to this?

I looked into my past and tried to track back those big “crossroads”, where the path splits in 2, and you have to decide whether to go right or left. Or even better, Right or Wrong. And I chose the  wrong turn. CLASSIC.

Have you ever felt that you made the worst mistake of your life after choosing one direction instead of another,and wishing you could take it back?

I did! Sometimes I felt like I was a failure, a complete mess and that my life was a disaster. It can happen to the best of us. And that’s exactly what happened to me.

It seemed to me that wherever I looked, I was surrounded by brilliant, successful people. Individuals who, at age 14,  knew exactly what they wanted to do with their lives. They made their choices according to that, and everything went smoothly ever since.

During these months of preparation for my trip I had a small epiphany: I wouldn’t be here now, deliriously happy, without  messing up with my life and making all those wrong choices: It seems that everything I did was set up to give me the opportunity of living my life as I really want it!

 MY FAILURES REVEALED

So here they are: my 3 biggest mistakes. My failures. The ones  that I’ve always been ashamed of talking about, now accepted, digested and re-born as blessings in disguise.

1) Choosing the wrong course of studies:

I  still remember the day that I had the insane idea of signing up for a course of studies in “Environmental science”. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE nature and everything related to it, but I am able to kill even a succulent plant..and it says it all!

Why this choice was a blessing: it gave me the discipline to study and put effort in everything I do. Regardless if what I’m doing is for passion or duty.

It was a blessing especially because  I hated my studies so much and this forced me to think about  my real passions. This led me to a marketing and communication course that I LOVED and thanks to that I had the chance to move to Rome.

I found a job that gave me the knowledge to work in the  UK, in a series of events that eventually lead me straight to my trip to Asia.

Hadn’t  I choose that path, I would still probably  be in Sardinia, struggling to find a job and just dreaming to escape to Asia instead of doing it.

2) Throwing away one of the best relationships I’ve ever had:

This is a hard one to talk about honestly, as I’m still in the process of getting over it. If it wasn’t for this huge mistake, I would  still be in London at the moment, and my wanderlust dreams would probably be on hold for who knows how long. Maybe forever.

Why this choice was a blessing: *Disclaimer* I hardly consider this as a bless! I’m just trying to look at the bright side of it. After that mistake I was reluctant to get involved in a  serious relationship again for a while, and this gave me a great deal of freedom when I decided to leave the UK for my trip.

Throwing away one of the best relationships I ever had still hurts me more than I can tell. Especially because it is mostly my fault. But this is NOT the reason I’m leaving.

I always repeat to myself that  I probably wasn’t ready for something like that and that I still needed to travel and experience the world before settle down. Plus…who knows what  life will throw at me this time around? 😉

3)Accepting a job in fashion:

I found myself in the Fashion Industry by pure chance, and worked in the field for 8 years in a row. Being the last 5 years in one of the most rewarding and satisfying roles of my life. I liked the job itself, it taught me so many lessons, both professional and human ones.

But FASHION? honestly. If you look at me you’d give me the “Anti Fashion Icon” award of the year! Shopping for clothes is mainly a necessity, and shopping for shoes a mere torture.

I’m able to dress nicely if I want, don’t get me wrong. But let’s say that wearing fashion clothes is at the bottom of my priorities list.

Why this choice was a blessing for my trip: cutting to the chase, simply because I earned enough money to quickly set off for my trip and because it gave me the necessary organization/communication skills to face a trip like this without panicking too much. And that’s a huge help.

All this to say that if you are in a similar situation, feeling like crap because of a bad decision…chances are that it’s not as catastrophic as you might think. Just wait and see. Your mistakes might even lead you to something even better than you had ever imagined.

What about you? what were your really bad decisions that positively influenced your life on the long run?

Let’s spread a bit of optimism!!