Compost is just old mess that became the best soil in the garden. Your worst year can do that too.

Material that has fallen apart is not worthless; given time it turns into what everything else grows out of. A bad year can work that way, though it is worth being honest that it does not happen by itself and it does not happen on a schedule. The useful part shows up much later, usually as something you understand that you did not understand before.

There is no assignment here and no deadline. If you are far enough out, name one thing you know now because of that year. If you are still in it, the only job is getting through, and that counts.