Mistakes are a Lesson

I want to thank my aqua aerobics instructor, Abby for the subject of this week’s blog. I am fortunate to see Abby most Saturday mornings when I take her 8:30 aqua aerobics class; she is so upbeat that my club friend, Linda wants her to stay away from the caffeine. Not only is she upbeat; but, she gives us an excellent workout so that I am literally perspiring although I am in a pool.

Yesterday in class, Abby as she does every Saturday told us to ‘have fun’ and not to worry what we look like – that we learn from our experiences; and, that is what I want to talk about this week. How do you look at each of your interactions and experiences? How often have you disliked a situation at work, home, school or a person that you might work with or for, dated or are even related to? At the time as things are happening you are caught in the emotions, drama and are just trying to survive. There are many times that I have questioned my Spiritual Leader as to why is this happening? How can You be cruel that way? What am I supposed to learn from this? At times like this I remember my Mother’s advice: “God never gives you more than you can handle”.

The real question is do you learn from it? Are you open to constructive criticism? When given criticism do you take it with open arms and change your behavior? We are never too old to learn, none of us are perfect; and, if you think you are – that is the first problem. Constructive criticism is a gift – (okay, I know you – right now you think I have lost my mind); but, think about it. The person cares enough about you to provide you with feedback – if they did not care about you they would not say anything at all; and, you could keep making the same mistakes.

Do you prepare yourself to make mistakes? As I said we are not perfect so mistakes will occur; but, there are ways to minimize the impact. If this is a business situation have you reviewed the benefits and the consequences? Have you considered how to mitigate your risks? If you have done all of that and things did not turn out well then you took a calculated risk and you did not make a mistake – the mistake would have been not taking the risk at all.

In your personal life can you laugh and learn from your mistakes? I have always taken life seriously; perhaps, that is because as the oldest child a lot of pressure was placed on me to set an example for my siblings, to make my parents proud and to excel. As I got older I placed the pressure on myself to do well in school, to be the best at work and to be a good family member and friend. I have never relented on those expectations and would beat myself mercilessly if I was less than exemplary in my delivering on any of those items.

Today as I am more comfortable with the person I am - I am not as tough on myself. I still expect my work to be exemplary and for me to be there for others; but, I can laugh at myself – I can be comfortable in my skin. As we danced through aqua aerobics yesterday I could smile at my missing steps or almost going under water as between the buoys and noodles I had too much buoyancy in the water and couldn’t stand straight.

Life is short. We can learn from it; but, most importantly we should enjoy it. So learn from your mistakes, receive criticism for what it is – a gift, take calculated risks and laugh at yourself.

When times are tough I always remember another of my Mother’s sayings: “God will never give you more than He knows you can handle.” I believe her, and I trust that is true. Today you may not know why things are happening; but, in time they will reveal themselves and you would have learned.

So today I leave you with this thought: That which does not kill you, will make you stronger.