Never Forget: Your Mistakes Are Proof You're Trying

No regrets, only lessons.

By Elizabeth Z Pardue — Written on Oct 07, 2021

Photo: Stokkete / Shutterstock

Hey, you know what you call someone who never makes a mistake? Boring. (I bet you thought I was gonna say "Perfect," but this article is about people who actually exist.)

Sorry not sorry, but no one is perfect.

We've all heard those motivational clichés about how Thomas Edison took a bazillion tries to make a lightbulb and Oprah got fired for "not being fit for television," but famous people's missteps sometimes still seem inconsequential given that we know how their stories turned out.

Another cliche is that "everything happens for a reason," but we all know that.

People who argue that with the ostensible "logic" they have, clearly think they're that perfect persona exists. They're just feeding their ego.

Admittedly, when you're nursing your ego after a giant screw-up, it's hard to see the big picture in your own story.

It's kind of strange that it's still hard for people to admit when we've messed up for some reason, considering we all do it, all the time. But this doesn't mean we're all incompetent, of course.

In fact, the people who use the term "incompetent" to describe people who are trying are just mean and nasty.

For example, a person can be a rockstar at work but makes a dozen mistakes while working on each project, or burns dinner twice a week at home, or forgets to pick up the dog from the groomer.

More often than not, missteps don't automatically equal failure. In fact, those are the littlest mistakes you can make. And everyone has bad days.

*Cue Taylor Swift's "this is me trying" from her album, folklore* (that song can apply to anything).

In fact, mistakes have their own benefits in that they are mini-lessons on how to be a better you.

Don't like the way a mistake makes you feel? OK, well you certainly won't do that again. Once you accept that mistakes are both inevitable and beneficial, life's challenges seem a little less terrifying.

Always keep in mind that the only people with any hope of not screwing up are those who won't try anything new.

And, frankly, not doing anything adventurous with the life you've been given is the one mistake you shouldn't tolerate. Life is a journey, after all, and you will encounter a few speed bumps in the road.

Get out of your comfort zone. Try things others won't so you can live the life others can't.