Are Mistakes Really Mistakes?

Are Mistakes Really Mistakes?

All these days we have been made to believe that it is. Many people aren’t able to win because they are scared to make mistakes. They fear that those mistakes would put them at risk and might leave them with nothing.

But is it really so?

Maybe this belief exists because we were rarely appreciated for making mistakes and were often scolded for them.

Remember when you took your first steps. Your parents would have been literally flying in happiness, excited to see your effort. And when you fell, they didn’t laugh at you. Instead, they hugged you and appreciated the effort you made, even though it was just one step.

As a child, when you wore your slippers the wrong way, they would cherish that moment and laugh at your innocence. At the same time, with patience and love, they would teach you how to wear them correctly and make sure the mistake was corrected 🩷.

But as we grow, does it remain the same?

Yes, I’m glad that half of the households still do this, but not everyone does.

Even while raising children, when a child commits a mistake, it is our responsibility to correct them in a way they would understand. Parenting is not just about being kind all the time. It is also about being strict when necessary and making them aware of their mistakes, dealing with them firmly where needed.

But this balance is not always understood by us. Because of this misunderstanding, we tend to use the word “mistake” according to our convenience.

We often say that once the same mistake is repeated, it is no longer a mistake. Even I believed this for a long time. But again, this does not apply to all situations.

Let’s say you are trying to crack a folk dance step. You keep making mistakes while practicing the steps. After practicing for a few hours, you try again and still make mistakes. But compared to the last time, your improvement is clearly visible. If these mistakes were discouraged, the final step would never be mastered.

So mistakes should be appreciated.

They help us

learn,

unlearn,

try again,

and finally complete what we started.

Regarding mistakes, we once had a discussion in our soft skills class where the professor shared how he deals with mistakes made by students.

Since he is a physics professor, he also takes students to the lab for practicals. There, he helps them with their doubts and guides them through the experiments.

Some students would have a lot of striking in their readings. He would carefully look at them and said that he actually appreciates it. He also asks them to strike it with just a single line and not overdo it. This is because he wants to see how the student’s mind worked in order to arrive at the final reading.

Those mistakes show the thought process of the student.

Those mistakes show the spirit of never giving up and the effort they put in.

To him, mistakes were efforts to think better.

Also, in Rufus sir’s class, one statement he made stayed with me:

“Mistakes should be appreciated.”

Both these professors’ views on mistakes were very interesting and perhaps inspired me to write this blog.