Day 22: Learning from Mistakes.

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the phrase ‘to err is human‘, but I still find myself giving a hard time when I make a mistake. Telling yourself that making mistakes is what makes you human is easy, but actually forgiving yourself for your mistakes, learning from them and moving on is not. On paper, it looks like an easy thing to do. However, when it comes to the actual execution, we find ourselves dejected and discouraged just because we made a few mistakes.

As a child, I thought that the world was built upon perfection. I thought that grown-ups could do no wrong and that they were right all the time! Now that I am one of those grown-ups, I have come to realize that it wasn’t true at all! Everyone slips at times and that it is perfectly alright to pick yourself up, learn from what you did wrong and do better next time. What’s the point of having a dream if you stop trying after the first time you failed?

Our biggest mistake is thinking that we cannot do it all over again, thinking that we won’t be given a second chance just because we missed by a tiny mark. But you know what? As long as we’re alive and kicking, and as long as our mistakes are well within reason, we can go back and shoot our shot another time. How do you think scientists came up with their equations? You think they didn’t crumple up balls of paper with faulty equations and throw them around their desk? Think again!

The way I see it, mistakes are just stepping stones to success, but there is a catch. They don’t lead you to success unless and until you’ve learnt from them. You cannot back off after your first failure in a typical ‘grapes-are-sour’ fashion and expect your destination to come to you. Failing doesn’t mean you have to start all over either. It means opening a different door because the first one you opened led you to a dead end. So you retrace your steps back to where you went wrong and continue from there.

Again, the irony isn’t lost on me. I am pretty much putting this on paper. And to me, learning is slowly turning into a habit because I have realized just how important it is to not give up on things or people, while within reason. For instance, where my dreams are concerned, I will leave no stone unturned until I make sure I get there. But when it comes to people who drain me emotionally, I have to let go before things turn toxic. Sort out your priorities.

I’ve made mistakes, I’ve fallen like a badly wounded soldier on a battlefield, but I’ve also healed and got myself back in fighting shape because this time around, I knew where to avoid being hit. That’s how it worked for me. And I know that it might work differently for each one of you reading this, but how would you know if you still stand a chance if you bury your head in the sand after your first failure?

Failing isn’t the end but giving up will be. Get up and move!

Cheerio! Xx

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Yours truly,
The Shubhster.

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