About mistakes and failing forward

Let’s talk about mistakes for a second.

This morning, I realized that I made a massive mistake in preparation for an exam when looking at the date that I would have to write. Thank goodness for having great class mates who made me aware of this, and thank goodness for second opportunity exams.

But this got me thinking. While it was awful initially and I did have a mini-freak out (okay, maybe not so mini…). I realized that this is an opportunity to practice mental toughness. It was an opportunity to practice to see the good in a rather disappointing and kind of humiliating circumstance. It was an opportunity to find value in a mistake and move forward, even though I “failed”.

And this is true in all of life, right? Mistakes aren’t sexy. Failure can be ridiculously unattractive. But if you are really working towards something, and really putting yourself out there to reach a certain goal, mistakes and failures are just the cost of admission. We will miss the mark sometimes. We will fall flat on our behind. You may start something with enthusiasm and confetti only to find yourself taking one step forward and two steps back.

But honestly, though, that’s what makes this journey so beautiful, isn’t it? If it was easy, it would never have been as fulfilling. Challenges and growth are the substance that makes us grow. And if you fail? You get to start over. And over. And over. Because as long as you have breath in your lungs and a heart beating in your chest, you get to go again.

Yes, getting your butt kicked – by life, by mistakes, by failures, sucks. Falling down sucks. But sometimes you have got to be humble enough to suck as long as it takes to get better.

This experience has taught me that I get to choose to be positive, even when things don’t go as planned. I get to see the blessings and lessons in this day. I get to choose my thoughts, and there is not a thought running through my mind that I don’t allow to be there.

So, if you are having a day, a week or a season where you feel like you are coming up short, where you feel like you are making mistakes and falling down, I feel you. But I also have to tell you that these things are not negative – in fact, they are indicators that you are busy ELEVATING your life to a next level.

And these mistakes and failures are the building blocks for the next level of life we are going towards.