by elycefeliz
I know I’ve made mistakes, lots and lots of them. I’ve been rude, given the cold shoulder, let down a friend in need, and not lived up to my own expectations. I’ve forgotten birthdays, skipped lunch and dinner invitations, and gotten so caught up in work that I’ve gone home tired, headachy and grouchy.
I’ve tried to become a writer, planned to open a store, and didn’t apply for better jobs when I had the chance. I’ve not exercised, eaten far too much, and skipped cleaning the house when it needed it.
Isn’t it great? Because all these mistakes mean I’m making progress. At least I’m working. I’m doing something. I have found so many things that don’t work for me over the past 20 years. So I must be pretty darn close to figuring out the whole mystery of life. (Well one can hope can’t they?)
A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.
Albert EinsteinI have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
Thomas A. Edison
As every inventor knows, life is all about making mistakes –there would be no new inventions without them. Babies fall down more times than they stand, but they keep trying. They know the goal is worth the effort – a whole new world awaits if they can just get it right. Basketball players can miss half their shots and still win the game. Even when you fail you can still succeed.
Don’t just look at your missteps and errors and not see the accomplishments, skills or lessons you’ve learned. Maybe you discovered you weren’t quite organized enough to run a business and you need to work on that first. Perhaps you learned to arrive late like your best friend instead of wasting time waiting for her. Maybe you saw that your passion for writing was not for a novel, but better suited to magazine articles, poems or some other shorter bits of material.
Making mistakes means making progress. I forget this vital truth from time and time and need to remind myself. There is relief in knowing that each blooper and blunders is just part of the journey. The path you’re on may swerve in an unexpected direction – it’s up to you to decide which whether to keep going or not. It’s the adventure of life and we all live it. Where will you’re adventure lead?
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