The Second Time Around
Making the second time around better than the first
It was only supposed to take a couple of hours, but it took a month. Let me explain.
We had planned on moving two huge shelves from my wife's office into mine for some time. One day, we decided to tackle it. We had a good plan. We estimated how much time we thought it would take and set out to get the job done. After getting all the books off the first big shelf, we moved it. That's when the problem started. As we tilted the shelf down to get it through the doorway but there wasn't enough clearance between the top of the shelf and the ceiling. We realized it just before we would have put a massive gash in that same ceiling.
We laid the shelf back down and reevaluated our approach. At that moment, we realized we left something out of our original planning equation. Those shelves had been brought up piece by piece into that office and were assembled there. They had never come through that doorway in the first place!
After discussing the conundrum for 15 minutes, we decided to lay the shelf flat, then turn it up on its side and move it out. The first part of that plan worked. We were able to get it successfully on its side. Fitting it through the doorway was another matter!
We struggled for another 30 minutes just to get it out of the office, after which we finally succeeded. When we finished moving shelf number one into my office, we set it up and walked away, promising one another that we would move the second shelf the following weekend.
Only it wasn't the following weekend. It was a month later, due to travel and other things happening, that we finally decided to wrestle with shelf number two. Shelf number two is the same size as shelf number one. And we remembered the struggle the first time around! My wife and I prepared for battle. After removing all the books from the second shelf, we laid it flat, turned it on its side, and slid it right through the doorway – without any issues.
I thought about it. What was different this time? It wasn't the first time around. Somewhere along the line, we must have learned some lessons that first time around. So, the second time around, it took less time, effort, and planning.
It's also true in life. It's important to pay attention to the lessons that we learn the first time around. Whether it be from mistakes we have made, mishaps in which we are involved, or even something meaningful that we accomplished. Failure and experience are some of the best teachers. And when we learn from them, the second time around will be better than the first.