Not getting the jobs you want feels painful, but with time, you may change your perspective.
Long ago I helped a customer who had some issues. He was so impressed with the solutions I provided that he told me he had made a mistake. He was on the board for the local school district and said that if they had known about my skills, I would have been offered the job instead of the person they offered it to. At the time that job would have been an incredible opportunity for me both personally and professionally, and would have changed the entire course of my life.
Of course, I was sad that I didn’t get the job. In time, however, I got better and even better jobs. At the time I could not see how getting that job would have negatively impacted my future. Since I did not get that job, I moved to a major city and then got even higher-paying and more responsible positions.
We can not see the future and the unintended consequences of our choices. We can only look back and feel grateful that certain opportunities were denied to us, and we found something that was more suitable.
Too often we approach life like we know what is most helpful for ourselves. We are often mistaken in what we think will help us. I thought that certain relationships and jobs would help me in the past, but they held me back. They kept me from learning growing and challenging myself differently.
When life doesn’t give us what we want, perhaps it is because something more helpful is in store.