September 11, 2025- Learning from mistakes

There should be no shame in admitting to a mistake; after all, we really are only admitting that we are now wiser than we once were.

~Greg McKeown.

We can’t figure out what’s right without the useful exercise of working through some things that are wrong. We gain wisdom through our errors, at least as quickly as we do through our success. In fact, the feedback loop is often much clearer when our results are something different from what we wanted.

It is not just the error that brings us wisdom; it’s the admission of that error. If we live in denial, afraid to own our mistakes, willing to deflect blame, or to outsource our agency, we can’t expect an authentic experience. When we admit to our mistakes and lean into the impact of them, we can then reflect on how we might adjust our behavior in the future.

We are works in progress. We cannot reasonably be expected to have this whole thing figured out. We must exercise grace for our humanity. We must accept our imperfections. We must insist on growing into the space between what we are and what we would like to be, through small, sustainable changes.

To err is human. Be fully human. Forgive yourself for being human, then set out to learn how to avoid the same error in the future. All the while, perfection cannot be a condition for self love.