We all make mistakes. Some are small, minor mistakes. Some have a larger impact on our lives….BUT we all make them. It’s what we do with them that’s important.
Mistakes are how we grow, how change happens, how we learn. As a child, we didn’t wake up one day and decide to walk. No, we had to crawl, pull our self up, and fall a bunch. We learned each time we fell and eventually we were walking. These patterns follow us throughout life, but at some point we expect to stop making mistakes. At some point, we stop expecting the falls and we stop learning from them. This is the biggest of our mistakes.
Lately I’ve been doing some reflection and mistakes have been a focus. Over the last two years I’ve been living in my mistakes, placing blame for my mistakes, reliving my mistakes, over and over again. Let me tell you, it’s not been productive.
The result of this has been weight gain, prolonged (minor) depression, limited writing, not thriving at work, and other daily irritants that aren’t worth listing. Many things have fed this cycle. My life has had a lot of life in it the last two years. But that doesn’t change the fact that I kept repeating the same damn mistakes. ARGH.
Until one September day, driving into work, I realized that the single common denominator to the mistakes that were impacting my day was me. ME!
Ok, time to regroup and get back on track. Time to learn from my mistakes and STOP repeating them.
That small mind shift, and the associated actions, resulted in some positive personal change. I lost 19 pounds, I am stronger and fitter than I have been in years, I have better mental health, I practice yoga, I’ve grown professionally and personally, I’ve learned, I’ve let go and I’ve forgiven myself. I am thriving again. It feels good. All of this required some mental discipline but I also enrolled others to support me. A dear friend and her nutrition program (highly recommended), a personal trainer, my SO (of course). But the person I have come to rely on the most is me. Me and my BigLifeVision. Now when I make a mistake, I examine it for what it is, why it happened, and learn from it. Then I move on.
My goal is to not make the same mistakes, and use the new ones to grow and learn. Now on to the next mistake…
BEFORE
AFTER – 19 POUNDS LATER
Thanks Perry. Funny that you mention perfection, I’ve been mulling over my next topic to post about and I was thinking about perfection. I love the Vince quote – thanks for sharing. I am going to add it to the BigLifeVision facebook page.
Glad you’re back KC! Thank you for serving up a topic most would avoid or “hide,” i.e., making mistakes. What a great analogy between falling down and walking. We learn to walk by falling down. By falling down (like making mistakes), we reflect on what went wrong, what we could/should have done differently, stand up, make adjustments…and walk!
First, we should accept the fact that we’re not perfect and we’re gonna make mistakes. Next, we should engage our mistake. Notice if we’re reacting or responding to our mistake. Your experience KC is a great example of transitioning from reacting to responding to mistakes. Finally, welcome our mistake as an ally or teacher helping us towards “getting back on track.”
To quote Vince Lombardi, “…we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.”
Appreciate You KC!!!!
Love that you’re thriving. I appreciate the reminder that taking responsibility doesn’t mean playing small but rather having the courage to go to new unfamiliar places…with the support of good friends. And falling down again and getting up.
Thank you Susan. And I count you solidly among the friends who help me get up again and again.
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