Have you ever been so sure of something or someone that you knew it was meant to be? That feeling of certainty in your choice no matter what outside input you begin to receive. And then, you find out that you made a mistake.
What now?
How are you going to get through this?
Just because you made a mistake it does not mean that you cannot recover. We all make mistakes, large and small in the impact they have on our lives. But it’s how we handle these hiccups in our lives that empowers us to become more resilient. There is not one single person that has lived that has not made a mistake. Beating yourself up about it will not improve how you feel. In these moments when we feel that we have made a mistake it’s important to sit and identify the feelings we are having. Do you feel anger, sadness, guilt, or embarrassment?
Identifying your feelings will help you thoroughly process the emotions that hinder growth. It’s normal to feel alone, frustrated, and defeated when you discover that you have made a mistake. But it is important that we don’t get stuck in these feelings. There are many instances when we wish we could go back and change what occurred. But these mistakes serve a purpose and can help us to evolve into better people.
Another way that we can take ownership of our emotions when we make a mistake is to acknowledge our role. If we are the root cause of a mistake then it is important to apologize for the misunderstanding, whether large or small. There are too many instances where we let pride take over and refuse to acknowledge that we were wrong. We can begin this process by apologizing to ourselves and then peel back the many emotional layers.
This has never been more evident in any situation more than being a parent. When we are raising children there are plenty of mistakes that we make along the way but we have to learn to acknowledge where we went wrong. It is ok to apologise to your children for making a mistake because they learn how to take ownership of their own role in a misunderstanding. We have to be able to demonstrate the ability to overcome a mistake so that it leads to clearer understanding. Not everyone will get it on the first, second, or third try and that’s ok because we are all human.
Constantly learning and growing, happy discovery!
Within You 