Extract Wisdom from Failure, and It Becomes Worthwhile
Your mistakes might fill you with shame and anxiety, but they help you grow
We all fail occasionally. But the trick to making our gaffes worthwhile is to get back up after we fall with added strength and wisdom.
It’s rare to grasp how to carry out something new the first time you try. So, whether you learn how to do math or make a relationship work, you will probably make mistakes. You might think you’re a failure, but you’re just going through a normal process.
You are not alone
It’s funny we don’t usually think of others who screw up as inept, but when we bomb, it’s a different matter. We imagine we are useless and don’t forgive ourselves. Everyone makes mistakes. What’s more, trillions of people experienced the same gaffes before us.
It’s easy to imagine you’re the first to be unsuccessful, but you’re not alone.
When you make an error, let yourself off the hook. Be kind with soothing self-talk. Offer yourself the advice and generosity you would give to a beloved friend. Remember, everyone fails to achieve the results they want at times, and doing so is part of forming the life you want.
Nothing stays the same
Life flows. Sometimes, it looks like nothing’s happening, but change is afoot. Beneath the dirt, a network of roots grows, and plants take their first tiny reaches for the surface so they may feel the sun. The wheel of life never stops turning.
All things, your mood, the weather, and circumstances alter with time. One day soon, your mistakes won’t mean anything anymore, and the angst you experience will fade from your memory.
Vulnerability is endearing
Did you ever notice how successful, seemingly perfect people may have an entourage but not many close friends? People admire them, but they are in awe. Additionally, who wants to be best buddies with someone who shows you up all the time by being perfect?
We gravitate to people who aren’t afraid to show they are real and have problems like the rest of us. When they make mistakes, we warm toward them and recognize ourselves in their blunders and embarrassment.
It helps to be super-efficient, but perfectionism doesn’t connect you with people. You need to be vulnerable and mess up occasionally.
When you are at your lowest, people can help and feel closer to you.
Mistakes are stepping stones
Each gaffe takes you one step closer to your goal. It increases your wisdom and experience, so you know more the next time you face a similar challenge.
Focus on progress rather than failure, and see mistakes as helpful. Remember, every blunder is useful. It shows you what not to do next time and urges you to try a new angle that might work. Carry on, and you’ll find a way forward.
You’re gaining strength
Mental resilience comes not from reading self-help books or learning how successful people behave but from messing up and learning from the experience.
Mistakes build strength and courage. Every time you get through difficulties, your emotional muscles flex. Your resilience gives you the tenacity to continue and overcome new obstacles in your path.
You’re growing emotionally
You can’t change into a wiser version of yourself unless you transform. Like a caterpillar, you must undergo experiences that change you to become an improved version of yourself.
You grow as a person when you make blunders too. Your insights expand, you gain self-awareness, and you’re better able to understand others because, when you see them screw up, you’ve been there before and can empathize.
Mistakes show you what to improve
Have you ever met someone who thinks they know everything? Well, you realize they are wrong. Until they mess up, they don’t recognize where they need more knowledge.
You can’t see your blind spots, areas under the radar needing attention, until your mistakes highlight them.
Blunders might fill you with shame and anxiety, but they are integral to growth. You need to fall occasionally. Only then can you rise like a wave with renewed strength and wisdom.
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Bridget Webber is a writer and nature lover, often found in the woodland, meadow, and other wild places. She writes poetry and stories and pens psychology articles; her love of discovering what rests inside the thicket and the brain compels her to delve deep. She’s appeared in many leading publications and ghostwrites for professionals who can’t spare the time to pen compositions.
