Ask HN: Finding out something you've been working on has been done already

I've been working on an a pretty exciting project lately. It has been really fun solving the problems I encounter and it has definitely made me feel better about my abilities when it comes to programming and such.

Today I stumbled across a project that is essentially similar to mine (except for minor differences in how they approach problems) and for some reason it significantly lowered the excitement my project has given me.

In the end, my question is; how do you guys go about possibly reviving your excitement and motivation for a project after having found out it has been done before? Do other people feel this way?