Making Mistakes: A Myth Put To Rest?

“There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The ‘failed’ experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately ‘work.’”

- from Ten Rules for Being Human by Cherie Carter-Scott

I’m a pretty open-minded person, and sometimes by uncanny ability to see all sides of an argument makes it virtually impossible for me to see anything as 100% right or wrong.

However, when I first read this quote from Cherie Carter-Scott’s “Ten Rules for Being Human” I thought, “No, I disagree. There are such things as mistakes. I should know; I’ve made plenty of them.” And I’m sure I’m not the only person who has thought, “If I could just go back and do things differently…”

What does this Cherie Carter-Scott mean by claiming there are no stuck things as mistakes?

I’m going to go out on a limb and say the majority my “mistakes” were made due to one or more of the following:

• Ignorance – No, really. People often make mistakes because they’re ignorant of the seriousness of the situation and/or the kinds of consequences their actions will have.
• Impulse – How many times have you made the very quick decision to act on something, only to have that decision backfire, thus leaving you to call it a mistake?
• Apathy – It’s difficult to think through your decisions and actions when you really don’t care about either. Apathy often leads to making decisions that turn out to be mistakes.

Regardless of whether we’re feeling happy or sad, in a good mood or a bad mood, we’re always able to lack knowledge about a situation. We’re always able to act on impulse, and we’re always able to feel apathetic toward situations, outcomes, and consequences.

Therefore, while any mental health condition we may have may increase the number – and even severity – of the “mistakes” we make, we can’t blame every “mistake” on the condition.

Given the above, are there such things as mistakes? Or is every decision we make the beginning of an outcome that – hopefully – teaches us a lesson? Even if we still want to go back and erase the “mistake” and, consequently, give up our newfound knowledge?

What are your thoughts? Tune in for mine on Sunday.