Mistakes

I have made some unfathomly stupid mistakes. Things that make me cringe when I think back on and just wonder how mind-blowingly insensitive, selfish and immature one person can be.

Stupid is as stupid does, I guess.

But rather than rewind these mental tapes constantly and berate myself for my lack of control or lack of judgement, I've asked for grace. Grace to be forgiven. And, equally importantly, the grace to LEARN from the mistake. Suffice it to say I've got plenty I can learn from.

But I come to believe that it's one thing to do somehting dumb. It's quite another to KEEP doing something dumb. Hall of Fame QB Joe Montana tells a story that sums that idea much up much better than I can:

“As if screwing up on the field in front of millions of TV viewers wasn’t enough, the Monday after every game I got to relive my mistakes—over and over again, in slow motion and with commentary from the coaches! Even when we won, we always took time to review our mistakes. When you’re forced to confront your mistakes that often, you learn not to take your failures so personally. I learned to fail fast, learn from my mistakes and move on. Why beat yourself up about it? Just do better next time.”

So take it from Joe Cool when you make a mistake. Learn from it and move on. Easier said than done. But worth it.