Good morning.
A friend once told me something that stayed with me.
“I know I could achieve much more,” he said, “but I’m terrified of making mistakes.”
As we talked, I realized his greatest obstacle wasn’t a lack of ability. It was a fear of getting things wrong. Every new opportunity looked less like a possibility and more like a potential regret. So he chose the safest path, even when his instincts urged him to try something bolder.
I wondered how any of us can discover what we’re truly capable of if we’re unwilling to risk being imperfect.
History suggests that progress has rarely been built by people who never failed.
The Wright brothers crashed more flying machines than history books care to mention before one finally stayed in the air.
Perhaps mistakes are not evidence that we’re incapable. Perhaps they are evidence that we’re participating.
Of course, not all mistakes are equal.
There is a world of difference between making a new mistake while exploring unfamiliar territory and repeating an old one because we refused to learn. The first expands us. The second confines us.
My late neighbour often reminded me of the old saying, “To err is human.”
He would pause for a moment before adding something equally important:
“A mistake becomes wisdom only when it teaches you something.”
I have never forgotten that.
Maybe the goal isn’t to live a life free of mistakes.
Maybe the goal is to make better mistakes.
Mistakes that come from courage rather than carelessness.
From curiosity rather than complacency.
I urge you to look back at your own life. Chances are, the moments that shaped you the most weren’t the ones where everything went perfectly. Probably, they were the ones that forced you to grow into someone slightly wiser.
Maybe today is a good to remember the people, who might have urged you to take chances, and you are here today, because of them.
How about sending them a mental note?
And finally, maybe somebody you know might be going through this themselves and could benefit from this understanding. You could then send them a message.
Until tomorrow,
Bob