There is something fundamentally wrong with our country. Somewhere along the line folks got to the point where they couldn't admit they had messed up, at least when it mattered. They were genuises when things went right and it was somebody else's fault when they went wrong. Why do I care this? The reason is that, at least for myself and Wifey, these are where we learn. The cold hard truth is that you do not learn much from successes and learn a lot from failures and mistakes. Simply because you made a mistake does not mean you are a bad person. Typically we did what we thought was best (duh, otherwise we would not have done it) and for whatever reason it didn't quite work. Maybe a mistake cost us an extra hundred miles on a trip, or a few hundred bucks or some inconvenience. The thing about mistakes is that by the time you find out they are a mistake they are past the point of return and cannot be undone. The real power of mistakes is analyzing what went wrong and hopefully having some takeaway's to prevent future mistakes. To do this you have to admit that the mistake was, at least in part, your own fault. This brings us to my next point.
I think part of the whining, bitching loser mentality that is far too common today comes from, or is directly related to failing to admit to oneselfself that you made mistakes. There whiners are genuises when things go right and when they go wrong it is everybody else's fault. What this mentality does is it creates a cycle where people gripe and complain about how life is not fair instead of figuring out how to do the absolute best they can to take care of theirself and their family. By losing the power to learn from their mistakes (after all the smart people who made $15 an hour were getting adjustable rate NINJA loans for $300k homes, etc) and are thus doomed to make the same mistakes or similar ones. Instead of realizing the issues with their plans, goals or underlying philosophies these folks will keep trying the same stuff and suprisingly have similar results. Also these folks take away their own power and give it to other people. After all it is these numerous agencies and organizations that keep holding them down, so why even bother with it. If they could just see their role in the mistakes they could see through to their role in fixing them and not making new ones which would put them and their family into a far better position. I would feel bad for these folks but to be honest I really do not like whiners.
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2 comments:
I like to think that mistakes can really mold and shape us into better people, but only if we continue to learn from them.
Mistakes also make us a little more grounded and keep us in touch with reality. Something most people are so out of touch with.. well why bother.
I think, especially in the upper echelons of business and government, the definition of "mistake" is different than it is for normal mortals. If you cause a great disaster through greed and arrogance, but you reap a huge financial reward in the form of a golden parachute while the hoi poloi starve, did you make a mistake. Apparently a lot of those at the top feel they haven't if they personally come out alright.
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