What you did contribute

When you don't contribute in the way you wanted, you stop seeing all the ways you did contribute. You measure what happened against what you imagined would happen. The letdown isn't really about how much you contributed. It's about how far reality differed from the version you'd imagined. The lesson here isn't to stop wanting to make a bigger contribution, but rather to make an honest account of what you did contribute. When you feel like your contribution didn't matter, ask yourself what you're really measuring against.