“Have patience with all things, but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being.” – St. Francis De Sales
No one is perfect
I’m not afraid to admit, with great certainty, that I’m not perfect.
While striving for perfection in our careers, our relationships and our talents is noble, it’s an unattainable reality, which has driven countless individuals mad throughout history and destroyed its share of happy homes.
Looking back on my life, I’ve made a great deal of mistakes I’m not particularly proud of. I’ve unintentionally hurt people who once meant a great deal to me, allowed pride to cloud my better judgement and fell victim to jealous tendencies, which often extinguish blossoming relationships.
Sadly, it’s the mistakes we inevitably remember and come to define ourselves by.
Mistakes are “an action or judgment that is misguided or wrong”. We’ve all made them, and will continue to do so, without the narcissistic need to continually punish ourselves.
Imagine if we lived in a society where we weren’t always pointing out the faults of one another and instead rejoiced in the value we all bring to the human race. Rather than defining people by the outward successes and failures we perceive on the surface, celebrating all the good which many times goes unseen.
Thomas Edison once remarked, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Define yourself by what is good
Being “wrong” and making “mistakes” is part of the endless journey to educate and inform ourselves of how better to handle the same set of circumstances the next time. It builds character and many times identifies who the invaluable individuals are in your life.
And while it’s easy to allow those mistakes to define who we are, remember your value as a human being is a much better definition.
