THE BLESSING OF A MISTAKE

4 reasons why mistakes are good for you

I went to the gym today and decided to take a step aerobic class. The gym instructor to my standards was always on point. In fact, I would rate her the best amongst the other gym instructors within the sports club. She knew her stuff. She was very qualified, ever on time and always enthusiastic while open to the likes of me who would linger after class to ask her for health tips.

Today, however, while we were exercising she missed a set of routine steps. It was just less than 35 seconds but as you know while in the grind of the exercise that  small lapse can put the class a bit off balance. She however pulled through and remembered the step and got us all back on board.

After class I went to thank the teacher for a great class and asked her to explain what she told the participants after class as did not hear her clearly. She said she was apologising for the slight mistake she made while in class. I quickly told her it was okay but she adamantly refused and said it was not right. This got me thinking about mistakes. Why do you think we make mistakes? Should we otherwise be perfect? How should we react when we make mistakes?

I personally view a mistake as a blessing in many ways:

• It helps us remember we are far from perfect. You can be really good at a certain skill but you are not perfect. Falling down helps us remember we are not invincible. Only God is.

• It enables us to improve ourselves. Just imagine if we thought we were all perfect, we would be far from development right now.

• It enables others learn from you. Many times when we make a mistakes, other can see it. If the other person is wise, he will learn from it.

• It enables us to encourage others who are struggling through a mistake. Making mistakes at times can be embarrassing, it can create a life time drift or temporal enmity. This is an opportunity to encourage the person who has  made the mistake.

Peter McWilliams said it well. To avoid situations in which you might make mistakes may be the biggest mistake of all.

Question: Have you ever made a mistake? How have you learnt from it? Please leave your comment below or on twitter