Change Your Mistakes

Change your mistakes. 

Have you ever done something that you wished you could have taken back? I remember once saying something flippantly that ended up being hurtful. It killed me that I had said it, and I did everything I could to repair the damage. 

Luckily, I was extended forgiveness and life went on. Except I learned a very valuable lesson that day. Words are powerful, and if we are not careful we might not be so lucky the next time. 

I considered my action to be a mistake, but if I had continued to say hurtful things it would have become a deliberate action with no regard for the feelings of others. 

One of my guilty pleasures is the Housewives series where it seems that every action is considered a mistake, but is repeated regularly. Somehow the victim is supposed to continually extend forgiveness for the thoughtlessness of others. 

I remember once when I was in graduate school my very wise professor pointed out that if we continued to make the same mistakes we really couldn't claim them to be mistakes. At that point our actions were deliberate, and for what ever reason must have a pay-off of sorts. 

Luckily for us we are capable of changing. Along the way we may slip up, but if we are extending an honest effort to improve then we should not get discouraged, and continue to make the same "mistakes."

"The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing."

John Powell