Exam Info

When You Make a Mistake

My daughter got her driver's license last Thursday.

On Friday -- the next day -- she was in an accident. It was her fault. And it was clearly a mistake. And since then, I've tried to stress learning from that mistake. She's scared, humiliated, and it's going to hurt her financially. (She will have to pay all of the costs associated with the accident).

But a mistake is a mistake. An accident is an accident.

Unless you are staying in bed all day, you are making mistakes. The secret is learning not to identify yourself by your mistakes.

When you have a bad blood draw, all it means is, "I didn't do well on that stick." It doesn't mean, "I'm a bad person," "I'm a failure," "I'm a bad nurse/paramedic/examiner/whatever." You get the picture.

When you make a mistake, learn from the mistake. Do what you can to rectify the mistake. And then go on about your life.

You occasionally fail, but you are not a failure.

You make mistakes, but you are not a mistake.

You have accidents, but your life has a purpose.

If you learn nothing else today, learn this: your failures don't define you. They are a part of your life, but they are not your life.

posted by Jim Huffman @ 5:34 PM