The benefits of mistakes (II)

“Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.” Phillipians 3.13-14

Last time we began looking at the benefits of mistakes. Most of us want to avoid failing or dabbling into error because mistakes, errors and failure come with a heavy price. Mistakes can be costly. Mistakes are painful. Mistakes bring regret and guilt. Nobody likes to face embarrassment or be embarrassed, and mistakes seem to be an open door to embarrassment so why make mistakes.

There are no guarantees in life that one will never make mistakes. Mistakes are part of the few things in life that are certain. Mistakes, however, are all bad as mistakes have benefits so we must see mistakes in the right light.

“We are human. We are not perfect. We are alive. We try things. We make mistakes. We stumble. We rise again. We try again. We keep learning. We keep growing. And we are thankful for this priceless opportunity called life.” Unknown.

 The person who will not make any mistake will not achieve anything. We must, therefore, not be afraid to make mistakes but learn to make the most of them. Mistakes, errors and failure are part of life and they need not incapacitate us.

“Mistakes are inevitable. The comeback is more important than the setback.” Unknown.

We cannot stay in the comfort zone of life where there are no risks and want to live a life that counts. Venturing into new frontiers and making giant strides will always demand taking risks and when risk is taken the possibility of mistakes is high. We must, therefore, not be afraid to make mistakes but learn to make the most of them. Mistakes, errors and failure are part of life and they need not incapacitate us.

We cannot go through life with the phobia of making mistakes.

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one”. Elbert Hubbard.

Much as mistakes are a part of life we must learn to make the most of mistakes. We must minimise the making of mistakes and learn to maximise the lessons mistakes come with. Mistakes are a great educational tool which we must maximise.

“When an infant is learning to walk and falls on their face, what happens? Inevitably some crying is involved but this is part of the learning experience and ultimately, the mastery of walking. This cycle is repeated but with each time learning small things to improve on such as catching themselves, grabbing onto something else for assistance, or learning to hold their balance while they take a few more steps forward. This is the power of mistakes. We learn from them.  In fact, cognitive scientists have found that mistakes improve learning when followed by corrective feedback, especially if the mistake was made with a high level of confidence. We make mistakes from the time we’re born right until our final breath. It’s an essential part of being human.” Sage Warlbroeck.