I love this quote and I can relate this to my journey. I have journaled daily since 2012. Early on it was just a log of what happened but as I improved the habit, I started writing about my experiences of the event. All that led me to pick up some good habits and drop the bad ones. So it is true for me, merely experiencing a sad or difficult event will not change you. Only when you sit down and reflect upon it can you truly gain from it.