virgin islands scene

He was like a cock who thought the sun had risen to hear him crow.
-- George Eliot
 

 

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Learn and leave it behind

As life plays out in its minutes, months and decades, you’ll occasionally make some mistakes. When that happens, don’t get mired in regret, self-loathing or self-pity.

Choose instead to learn everything you can from the error of your ways. Then commit yourself, remind yourself and in fact insist to yourself that you never make the same mistake again.

Everyone makes mistakes, and if you’re going to do anything worthwhile, you’re sure to make some of your own. You cannot entirely avoid making mistakes, yet you certainly can avoid making the same mistake multiple times.

It may seem obvious to avoid making the same mistake twice, but unfortunately it is not so obvious when the possibility presents itself. There are all too many people who have fallen into repetitive, self-destructive patterns, making the same mistakes again and again.

To avoid that fate, start by accepting full responsibility for the mistake. That gives you power to learn from it, and perhaps even more importantly, to let it go.

Accept the mistake, and learn enough from it so you’ll never make it again. Then leave it behind as you move forward, smarter, more experienced and more positively purposeful than ever before.

— Ralph Marston

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