Mistakes Are Okay

2/10/10 at 11:45 am | 6 Comments

BLOG by Louise L. Hay

It’s okay to make mistakes while you are learning. So many of us are too concerned with perfection. You won’t give yourself a chance to really learn anything new because if you don’t do it perfectly in the first three minutes, you assume you are not good enough.

Anything you are going to learn takes time. When you first begin doing something, it usually doesn’t feel right. To show you what I mean, take a moment right now and clasp your hands together. There is no right or wrong way to do this. Clasp your hands and notice which thumb is on top. Now open your hands and then clasp your hands again with the other thumb on top. It probably feels strange, odd, maybe even wrong. Clasp them again the first way, then the second, and the first again, and the second way and hold it. How does it feel? Not so odd. Not so bad. You’re getting used to it. Maybe you can even learn to do it both ways.

It’s the same when we are doing something a new way. It may feel different, and we immediately judge it. Yet, with a little bit of practice, it can become normal and natural. We’re not going to love ourselves totally in one day, but we can love ourselves a little bit more every day.

So mistakes are your stepping stones. They are valuable because they are your teachers. Don’t punish yourself for making a mistake. If you are willing to learn and grow from the mistake, then it serves as a step toward fulfillment in your life.

Affirm: Today is a stepping-stone in the discovery of who I am and what brings me joy.

Love,

Louise

FILED UNDER: SELF-ESTEEM, SELF-CARE, MISTAKES, OLD BELIEFS, CHANGE, CHALLENGES

Comments (6)

1.

February 10, 2010
8:52 pm

Nice way of informing your mind to get over the mistakes by doing this simple Exercise, thanks
– Parag
2.

February 11, 2010
9:59 am

Oh how I wish I'd been raised with that perpective! Perfectionism can be paralyzing. To learn we need permission to be a beginner,and allow a learning experience, without fear. Unless you become as a little chilld you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Watch children, they are free from judgementalness and enjoy the experience.
– Valerie Curcuro, Life Coach
3.

February 15, 2010
5:58 am

Thank you....this is the message I needed to hear today. I will carry this affirmation with me always. Louise, you are truly my inspiration. Namaste.
– Edith
4.

February 16, 2010
2:28 am

Thank you Louise, I really needed to hear this message! I will carry this affirmation with me today, now and forever and always. You have changed my life.
– Lionie
5.

February 18, 2010
10:01 pm

Thanks! I remember trying to learn my bedtime prayers from my father who was a marine. I made so many mistakes, over and over, he was so angry, I was little, I was tired and so nervous. I could never say the prayers "the correct way". These many, many mistakes guided me to "improve" and create my own loving prayers.
– Maria elena
6.

February 28, 2010
5:52 am

Thank you for this post! It is very inspirational. Allow myself to make mistakes is very important for me, because I sometimes still blame myself for my mistakes at work. I sometimes make those little stupid mistakes, which have unpleasant consequences, just because I wasn't attentive enough. And sometimes I don't know how to deal with it..
– Katja