Mistake

mis·take (mĭ-stāk′ or mɪˈsteɪk)
noun.

 

1. an error or fault in action, opinion, or judgment
2. a misconception or misunderstanding

 

er·ro

what to do with mistakes?

Lê este artigo em Português aqui.

 

I make a lot of mistakes. Everyday. Some are big, others huge, and some are smaller. All my mistakes have made me lose something, though – often money, time, opportunities, and even people.

 

This year, I made a load of mistakes. I may have been more aware of them, so they seemed to be more. Yet, although I’ve always lost or missed something with each, all of them brought me something too: the chance to learn. And that I won.

 

I don’t mean to romanticize mistakes, even because some may lead to disastrous consequences. But, conversely, why demonize it? I make mistakes, you make mistakes, everybody makes mistakes. And yet we get terrified every time someone does it.

 

In Portuguese, the word errar originates from Latin errare to mean wander, that is, to move about without a fixed course, a destination, or purpose. In English, the word mistake – similarly to all the others carrying the prefix “mis” – simply means a flawed “take”. A mistake is just that: something flawed that is done when we don’t know enough to do better. Perhaps when the path is blurred.

 

That shouldn’t be punishable, it should be correctable. After you make a mistake, you know better.

 

It’s hard to imagine someone would err on purpose. Being given the choice, we’d all choose not to make mistakes. But since we will, why not look at them to see the lessons and opportunities they offer us to do better?

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