Thirty Days of Gratitude, Day 24: Learning from Mistakes

We’re in the home stretch now – the last week of Thirty Days of Gratitude! For Day 24, I’m grateful for learning from my mistakes.

If you DIY, you can’t let a goof stop you. Learn from mistakes and fix what you’ve done, or do better next time. Here’s a case in point.

Remember this cool window I bought at an antiques market?

I had big plans for it. I was going to turn it into a door for that shelving area in our master bath.

One problem: it didn’t want to be a door.

When I put it on the hinges, gravity became its worst enemy and the window started to come apart.

Oops.

OK, so at first, I stomped around a bit and cursed a little. But then I realized that I had learned something here:

1. Always check the stability of a salvaged piece before using it, in the manner in which you are going to use it. In this case, I had checked it, but not hanging from hinges. On the ground, it seemed fine; when gravity took over, not so much.

2. I actually liked the open shelves better.

3. I think this window – with its bright, deep green – is going to make a great Christmas decoration (after Thanksgiving, of course).

So today I’m grateful that I can learn from my mistakes and not just be upset by them.

What are you grateful for today?