It is human nature to rue our mistakes, and the more perfectionist the human, the deeper the regret; for after all over-achievers don't fail .... or do they?
The truth is the biggest names in history, be it in science, literature, sports, politics had all been forged through the fires of failure. From missed opportunities to silly mistakes to poor miscalculations, Edison, Shakespeare, Ali and way too many politicians to name, they all have two things in common: they had doors closed, even slammed shut in front of their faces. And secondly, they never lingered too long in regret in front of that shut door but went on to find the doors that open instead.
At a much smaller scale, but big in the context for a student returning to university, M was very much confronted with a shut door arising from her own illness-induced forgetfulness. But rather playing the blame game with herself, she surprised both her mum and me and indeed the airlines counter staff with a decision. She had accidentally checked in her carry on bag which was unlocked and contain valuables needed for school. The big question was whether we could get the bags offloaded and re-checked in time. In an absolute moment of clarity, in front of anxious parents, she decided to let the bags go ahead.
In the end, the bags arrived safely, she had less to carry on to handle and most importantly learnt the lesson that Mr Bell had so succinctly put across. When bad things happen, we need to move forward. Thinking through new options (but don't get analysis paralysis) and most importantly, decide and act. The rest will take care of itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment