I realized that I do not make enough mistakes!!!
Now, do not misconstrue that comment for arrogance, hubris or anything besides the mere, humble fact that I believe I do not make enough mistakes in my life!
Do not get me wrong -- I make A LOT of mistakes - almost hourly (minute to minute if you listen to my wife - lol)!!
However, I am beginning to understand that I need to make more and a large regret I have in my life review is definitely the fact that I SHOULD HAVE MADE MORE MISTAKES over the past years!!!
You may be saying to yourself - "Is this guy nuts"? "Why would anyone want to make MORE mistakes in his life?" "Isn't the goal to make LESS mistakes?" "Doesn't LESS mistakes lead to success - and MORE mistakes lead to failure?"
But those assumptions are FALSE!
Life is about making mistakes! It is about Risk and taking chances and exploration!!
We are here on earth to GROW! We are Growth Seeking beings!!
However, Growth will not come to us without making mistakes! It just cannot occur to the magnitude that it ought to occur!!
I play ice hockey and just began playing regularly in the past 2 years. I do not fancy myself a fast or strong skater, and I realized just recently that this is a function of my "lack of mistakes" on the ice as well!!
I am not as fast or aggressive or strong of a skater and guess what -- I do not fall down a lot!! I used to think this was a result of my "good balance" but I came to the realization that it was more the fact that I do not take chances, do not go all out, and do not open myself up to mistakes -- which is falling down on the ice!!! I equated falling down with failure, embarrassment, etc. I tried my best to stay up - even if that meant being beaten to the puck, or not getting that break away opportunity!
Even the pro hockey players fall down quite a bit... it happens all the time - and it is because they Push themselves and risk that in exhchange for speed and aggressiveness, etc!
I recently resolved to fall down more as I play - and to allow myself to fall in the pursuit of faster, stronger skating! I am all for taking chances with speed on the ice and not caring if the result is a wipe-out!!
This is true in life as well!!
How many opportunities have you and I turned down due to fear of embarrassment, fear of making mistakes, or thinking we could not do it??
Just last night, a veteran Major League Baseball umpire made a collosal mistake of historical proportions! He made a SAFE call on a close play at first base that in review was clearly an OUT call. The result and impact of that call?
A young pitcher, one out away from pitching an extremely rare PERFECT GAME, lost that chance as the play was ruled a Hit.
That umpire made a mistake - and he is paying for it dearly today. And NO ONE is more devastated by the mistake than HE is! Pray for him - it is that bad!
However, he will GROW from this mistake -- painful as mistakes are - and will be a stronger, better umpire and probably human being as a result of this one, glaring, public, historical mistake!
Thank God - and pray to God that none of our mistakes are as public and have such historical consequences attached to them as this poor man's mistake did!
STOP this MADNESS today!
We HAVE TO make mistakes -we should welcome mistakes - and also LEARN from them!
I resolve to ask more questions, take more chances, open myself to making more mistakes in my life, my career pursuits, etc.
Please join me in this new perspective and EMBRACE the fact that mistakes lead to mastery and wisdom and opportunity!
The old saying is "That which does not kill you only makes you stronger."
This is very true and if we resolve to learn from our mistakes, make a whole bunch of them in the pursuit of excellence and success - and teach others that it is ok to err if the goal is Growth!!
Stay Strong!
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