Mistakes Happen!

Mistakes.  We’ve all made them.  Some bigger than others.  Some with more dire consequences.  Mistakes can be life changing, though not necessarily for the worse!   Sometimes, it’s not necessarily a mistake, but adversity that makes us stop and think.  It can, to quote an old adage, “Separate the men from the boys”, or in today’s society, the girls from the women.

The ebb and flow of a society, culture, or economy can make us take stock of what we are doing or thinking at any particular time.  It can also make us throw up our arms and say NOW WHAT!!

     

 Believe it or not, despite the mess we seem to be in nowadays, we aren’t the first ones to sometimes have these feelings of helplessness.   War, a stock market crash, or a change in national policy have all at one time or another, been the impetus for feelings of despondency.

      

There is a quote from Proverbs that says “Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors”.   While this may be true, it doesn’t exactly help when you’re in the midst of the muck and rough seas are coming over your deck!

    

 We can look back with perfect 21st century hindsight through history and see many examples of “rough seas”.  Think about it, people we consider great men and women in history had no more insight to their adversity, or mistakes than we do in the 21st century.

     

We can however, look at the circumstances these great historical figures found themselves in and draw parallels.  We can say, “Hey, that sounds familiar!”  Or for the more pessimistic, perhaps give a trite “It’s just history repeating itself.”  The degree of adversity may vary from decade to decade, but history does basically repeat itself.  So then, why not look to history for a basic road map, or even - dare we say it - some comfort to know that, if they made it, so can we. 

     

Many have said it is American ingenuity that helps us through tough times.  You may be thinking, “Boy, if we ever needed some quick and snappy thinkers, we need them now!”   Don’t you think the people in revolutionary times thought the same thing?  Thank goodness for people with minds like Ben Franklin, and George Washington.  Abigail Adams was a guiding force for her husband as he dealt with the drafting of not only the Declaration of Independence, but the Constitution of the United States.  Snappy thinkers indeed, but they had no crystal ball, no way of knowing if their “snappy thoughts” would ever amount to anything.
     

History is full of people who threw up their hands and said NOW WHAT!!  What separates the successful people from those who failed is that after they brought their hands down, they set them to the task of figuring out what would come next.
    

So, whether you have slipped on that banana peel one time or 101 times, look back before you look forward, and you might find yourself on a steadier deck!