Failure is the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely. – Henry Ford

Who among us is perfect?  I know that I’m not.  I mess up all the time, and it’s taken me a very long time to realize something.  It’s okay.  I don’t have to be perfect.  If I mess something up, I’m starting to realize that it’s a mistake, and mistakes can generally be fixed.

If you’re a parent, I want you to think about something.  When your child messes up, say a paper, or something, how do you react?  Chances are you say it’s a mistake, and help them fix it and give them an opportunity to try again.  Mistakes are not the end of the world.  They are a chance to learn, to improve and to try again.

I’ve spent far to much of my life not trying things because I was afraid I wouldn’t get it right.  Now, I’m starting to say, so what!  Life is too short to get hung up on doing everything right.  I’m certainly not going to try and mess up on purpose, but I’m learning to not live in fear because I may screw up. If I do, so what. It’s a mistake, it’s not the end of the world.

Am I there yet?  Not totally.  Will I get there completely?  Maybe, and then again, maybe not.  But I’m really working on not living my life in fear of messing up.  It’s life.  It’s perfectly imperfect and mistakes happen.  Stop worrying about what may happen, or what you may do wrong.  It’s a mistake, fix it, learn from it, and move on.