Here's my best description of the sensation...
I wake up this morning, the day after Thanksgiving, and though I don't really need anything in particular to feel thankful for because I'm blessed to be a natural optimistic who is acutely aware of how favored she is, I go into my AOL email box and learn that I can be GRATEFUL I made a mistake! Now those among you who read this and think, "grateful she made a mistake...what the...", are the very ones who should keep on reading...as a matter of fact, y'all should read faster! Those of you on the other hand who intuitively smiled at the thought that I could be grateful I made a mistake already know the magnitude of this particular type of gratitude.
Upon entering my email box, I found that I had received a message from a person with whom I have not been in contact for awhile, though I very much would have liked to have been. It turns out, that this very blog was the impetus behind this individual reestablishing contact with me...(talk about a fast turn around on a time investment, and returns I never imagined receiving ;). Anyway, while trying to include my Uncle Arthur and his family on a distribution list I created from my online address book when sending a message to friends and family to introduce this very blog, I inadvertently added this "Art's" email address. The long and short of it is this resulted in the reestablishment of communication between me and someone I very much would like to discover more about and I am thankful for the "Divine Intervention" that allowed the meticulous, detail-oriented me to make such a wonderful mistake!
MISTAKES I believe are the key to my ability to remain positive and optimistic and can be for anyone. As I replay my life and analyze the final result of each of my own biggest faux pas, I have found that they typically have landed me in a great destination that I either had not or would not otherwise have had the foresight to plan to go, or if I had, did not have idea one about how to go about getting there. Examples you ask, wanna hear 'em, here they go:
- 1983, best pal Jeff (you know who you are) convinces me to go to college with him (we'll get each other through med school!) at Creighton in Omaha, NE then proceeds to go to school himself at Clark in Atlanta, GA -- 1988, I've discovered med school would have been a mistake and subsequently am graduated from one of the best Pharmacy schools in the country -- for this mistake I'm thankful every day!
- 1989, I'm pregnant (need I say more...) -- 2005, I've had the baby alone, a son, who is now sixteen, loving, brilliant, well adjusted, handsome, popular, funny,...and the hands down winner for the title of "THE SINGLE BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME!" -- for this "mistake" I'm thankful every single second of every single day!
- 1998, I quit my job prematurely with only a verbal (not signed) offer from my next employer (okay, okay...beyond stupid), hoping to have a couple weeks between jobs to spend with my son (I should at least get some cool points for this) --1999, following a hiring freeze which prevented me from starting for three months (2.5 months longer than I had planned for), I am hired and in the interim, I discovered how resourceful and capable I can be! 2005, end result, this position was definitely worth the wait ultimately and more than prepared me for my dream job which is the one I have now...(I mean if you have to have a job at all, and unfortunately, I do) -- but at least its one I like, am good at, and can be thankful for every day!
The long and short of it is, nobody wants to make mistakes, but whether we want to or not, we all do. The question becomes, what do you do then/next? You can kick yourself, but why do that, you're already down. You can spend the rest of your life lamenting your misfortune, but that's not necessary either as there are plenty of people who will boldly remind you of your "oops!" more often than you'll ever need them to. You can play it safe from here on out and never risk anything ever again, but as they say, "You can't win if you don't play"! Or you can embrace your "failures" for what they are...OPPORTUNITIES! Opportunities to learn something, gain something, or just try something again or something new. But the bottom line is mistakes are something! And I'll bet if you take a trip down mistake memory lane as I have, you'll find that that something is almost always a gift in the end. Holla back if you feel me and share some of your own "opportunities". Thanks Art! ... both of you.
3 comments:
Great Post, Sharon... I too have benefited from mistakes through the years. I took a job in New Orleans a few years ago. Got down there and realized I'd made a WRONG decision and as a result, I was miserable and depressed... After a couple of years, I found a job in my ATL hometown incorporating the skills that I'd learned down in New Orleans... As a matter of fact, I probably would not have gotten this job if I hadn't had those skills. So everything works out in the end, you know?
I think when we make mistakes, it's important not to let fear creep in and take over. We always get a picture in our minds of what's the worst that can happen as a result of said mistake, never thinking (initially) that we will get through this and may even benefit from it...
Again, great post... you gave me something positive to think about...
This is a great post. I never thought about what could be gained from a mistake. I recently wrote a post on how finding myself pregnant was the best thing that could have happened to me. Good post!
Hi Serenity,
thanks for the post, and for visiting my blog as well...
I happen to be a true believer in the advantages of making mistakes, and much like your post regarding your own pregnancy, my life with my own son has been one of the biggest contributors to this mantra. Much like you, I found myself pregnant after college and the father was not someone I wanted to be with long-term.
The way things work out though, it was the best thing ever to have happened to me because 16 years later, I have not one single regret. And though I have not yet married, and may never, I did not have to give up the family I always wanted, nor do I now at the age of 40 hear a biological clock ticking in my head. So keep on keeping on my sista, I promise your son will give you a sense of accomplishment as he grows that nothing else will ever touch.
Interestingly enough, when I searched your blog for the post re:your pregnancy, I found it on November 15, 2005...believe it or not, that was my son's 16th birthday!
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