Learning From Our Mistakes

It was late. In the light of the oil lamp John was mixing ingredients to form a medicine. Than he made a mistake. John accidentally added carbonated water instead of plain water to his recipe. John took a sip. Mmmm this tastes delicious and refreshing, he thought. It was 1886. The man was John Pemberton He just invented Coca-Cola

~ from the Coca Cola historical archives

We make mistakes, we all do!

Especially when trying something new we tend to make mistakes. Only tushita heaven knows how many I 've made in 2009, one of my most turbulent years on record.Through trial and error we learn. There are not that many people though who turn mistakes into opportunities or learn from their mistakes. We could certainly blame our narcissistic egos on that! We cover up mistakes or we tell people off when they make a mistake. Did you ever hear somebody say "oh come here I'll do it from now on. This is already the second time that you make a mistake."? Some hear it often when they are young. A door is closed for them. They don't get the opportunity to learn anymore. The more risks we take in our lives the more chance we make a mistake.

I think the reason that people are afraid to make mistakes is that they are too often penalised for it. That's why they invented brainstorming to come up new ideas. The rule is that no idea is strange or gets ridiculed. Every idea is valid. People then feel less threatened and are not so afraid to make mistakes, ask KeenYee! Brainstroming happens a lot at my workplace. Coupled with good foodie breaks, courtesy of Domino's pizza or the occasional "tong sui" desserts (I'm afraid I do tend to spoil them at times), creative juices flow freely, at times, even rambunctiously.


The most successful people I think are the ones who persevere. If we are able to deal with the feeling of frustration and rejection we move forward. A great thing is that we still can build self esteem in our workers or peers by allowing them to make mistakes and not making a big deal out of it. Without the constant pressure and fear arising, they will deal with mistakes a lot better. Of course we have to take calculated risks or we let a person do things we can think he/she can handle. Working my way up from being a Junior Accountant, I've certainly experienced the hardships of worklife and the rewarding lessons I've learnt from making all those mistakes. I do emphatize with the new employees especially the fresh grads. We have to try new things that are safe. Just as a pilot can't take a risk a young child can't take too many risks either. If we do make a mistake, stop and think. What did I do wrong? How can I do it better next time? I make this mistake many times.

Every time I diet I am too strict for myself I can't keep it up and stop but....I make the same mistake next time. In many things I have to learn to think first and find new ways of behaving. Hell-in- damnation, I've even had to tone down my writing from this post onwards to extinguish Manglish's fiery complaint of having to read my posts as often as a few times each post before he could fully comprehend my rantings :P  I have to learn from my mistakes. By the time I learned from them all I will probably be old but a lot wiser. Therefore we can learn a lot from the older generation eg Granma Twilight.  Don't make the mistake to ignore them. They carry a lot of wisdom.


If At First You Don't Succeed ...........................
~ Author Unknown


Failure doesn't mean - "You are a failure," It means - You have not succeeded.


Failure doesn't mean - "You accomplished nothing,"  It means - You have learned something.


Failure doesn't mean - "You have been a fool,"  It means - You had a lot of faith.


Failure doesn't mean - "You don't have it,"  It means - You were willing to try.


Failure doesn't mean - "You are inferior,"  It means - You are not perfect.


Failure doesn't mean - "You've wasted your life,"  It means - You have a reason to start afresh.


Failure doesn't mean - "You should give up,"  It means - You must try again.


Failure doesn't mean - "You'll never make it,"  It means - It will take a little longer.


Wish you a lot of mistakes today, Anton .......... and all the people whom you care for.



"Walk on a trail of loving kindness
Walk on a path of compassion
And all else around you will be beautiful."
Every Blessing