When it comes to past mistakes and regrets, I know I’m not alone in this. We all stumble and wish we could change some decisions we’ve made—it’s part of being human, after all. Personally, I tend to dwell on my missteps much longer than I should. I often find myself feeling deeply saddened by the wrong choices I’ve made, while it seems like others can find the silver lining even in the toughest storms. Honestly, I admire those people!
Whenever I come to terms with a poor decision, it feels like I’m stuck in quicksand for a while, struggling to regain my footing. It can be exhausting! But I remind myself that this is all part of the journey—one that many of us share.
As I’m growing older and a little wiser (thankfully), I’m learning to take mistakes as blessings in disguise. Those mistakes have shaped who we are today—a better version of our younger selves. I know we certainly should not have made some of those extra nerve-wracking mistakes that hurt us, ruined us, devastated us, and broke our faith and beliefs. Yet, do you think if you had skipped some of your bad decisions, you would be the person you are today? I get it—some of us might have been in better places than we are now because, at the moment, we’re a wreck, a complete mess. But at least now we understand what decisions led us to where we are and how we could tackle (or completely avoid) that kind of situation if it were to repeat. It is better that we went through the consequences of our mistakes now than later. Sounds like nonsense! I know. But trust me, keep faith, and never lose hope, as there’s a very popular saying: “Miracles happen every day,” and it might just happen to you or me this time (who knows!?).
You know, mistakes are your baby steps where you fall but then learn to pick yourself up again. I have heard a lot from experienced people that falling or failing is far better than staying in one place. If you’re always at the same point in your life, avoiding pitfalls, you never change, and change is very crucial for humans. Even our bodies change every day, every minute, every second that we’re breathing. Come to think of it! If our bodies are changing every time we take a new breath, what could happen to us or our surroundings if we were to stay still? I am not trying to be a motivational writer that you have to look up to; I am just making a small effort to send us all a little bit of positivity.
I know exactly how it feels to try to be an optimist as an inborn pessimist—it is hard, very, very hard. It is like fighting a battle alone against hundreds of supermen. Nonetheless, you have to fight the battle that you were born to fight. Without the fight, you are not you, or you will never be the person you were meant to be—a war hero who was supposed to fight alone, a person who was meant to live a meaningful life.
When we embrace our bad choices, we gain strength. Rather than being anxious, we can self-reflect and comprehend what went wrong. Self-realization is the first step toward overpowering bad judgments about choices. When you understand your mistakes and learn how to handle them, you are not only wiser, but you also gain power over your insecurities about losing and moving forward. Gaining an edge on our own fear of making mistakes is the most powerful strength we as humans can attain.
Just because I am giving big talks about positivity and motivation here does not mean that I have mastered the art of choosing a Titanic ship instead of a paper boat. Some part of me still prefers the Titanic to hit the iceberg and sink, Jack to die, and Rose to live on forever alone, missing the love of her life. I might be off track a little bit here. I am just saying that it is still a struggle for me to look on the brighter side when I misjudge my options. Yet, whenever I find myself on that boat of remorse and self-doubt, I quickly hit the refresh button in my mind and remind myself that “There are no such things as wrong decisions and mistakes in life; there are only two paths: a shorter one and a longer one to reach your destination.”
This phrase implies that our wrong decisions or mistakes are the longer path among those two options. They cannot prevent us from reaching our goals; they only lengthen the journey a bit. There will be struggles for sure, but so will be the experience. No matter how much you’ve heard about others’ mistakes and what you’ve learned from their failures, it’s not going to be the same as experiencing them yourself—I don’t mean that you should repeat them, haha. The things you’ve experienced will be your own story, not one you simply copy, paste, and quote in your speeches or writings.
Mistakes can feel like hidden obstacles on our journey, lingering longer than we’d like. While they may shape our current circumstances, they don’t define who we are or what we can achieve. If we choose to let go and embrace acceptance, we can reclaim our path.
Life is a constant ebb and flow, and it’s essential not to linger in the shadows of our past mistakes. Remember, it’s okay to let go—just don’t forget the lessons learned along the way. As the saying goes, “Let go but never forget.” Each experience, good or bad, shapes us into who we are meant to be.
