“Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!” Remember when falling down was fun? Of course, literal falling gets more dangerous as our bodies age, but as we get older we also seem to get more cautious about metaphorical kinds of falling. We don’t want to be seen as messing up; we worry that we will be perceived as failures. But some of the world’s great discoveries have come from the creative handling of mistakes—graceful ways of getting up after falling down.
How can you turn a mistake or failure into something that is simply part of the game?
The Daily Compass offers words and images to inspire spiritual reflection and encourage the creation of a more loving, inclusive and just world. Produced by The Church of the Larger Fellowship, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation Without Walls.
How can you turn a mistake or failure into something that is simply part of the game?…
Admit it – be honest about your part in it (don’t take less blame, don’t take more blame – than is absolutely yours). Don’t carry it around like a display sign, or an albatross around your neck. Move past it. Learn from it. Grow from it. If anyone else wants to carry it around, as their garbage – tell them to “grow a pair, and get over it!” Then walk away from them – they’re toxic.
Sometimes the getting up isn’t so graceful, but it’s still getting up!
I was in the title insurance industry for 16 years when I was downsized during the recession. I was reluctant to leave the industry even though I finished a master’s degree in information and library science because the money was good and I did not have the time to look for a new direction. Right now, I am trying to get my records management career in gear by working as a records associate in an insurance office and taking on the duties of Director of Professional Development for a records management association. I also have taken on more parenting and household duties. Being unemployed was rough, but there were benefits to what was less a fall than a shifting of gears.