Do we really learn from our mistakes?
Mid-week Musings
We make mistakes. Sometimes, big ones. Live with regrets for a long time. Eventually make peace with them — when we realise the past cannot be undone and we have travelled too far.
The cliche’ question is what did we learn from the mistake? Did it teach us something that will stop us from committing the same folly again?
To my mind, that’s a simplistic view. Mistakes per se don’t teach us anything. Regrets cause pain but still don’t make a difference. Given a chance or faced with a similar situation — we will probably make the same mistake again.
Real learning happens when we realise the mistake has changed us as a person in some way (hopefully for the better — though not always necessarily so). That can be therapeutic. But it is a slow process which happens subliminally.
Being harsh or punishing ourselves for the errors can only cause trauma or scald our consciousness. Wisdom lies in loving and being kind to our own selves.
This calls for a certain level of detachment that comes with age — when we begin to understand “Who am I?”. Then the big ‘I’ who is the witness is able to forgive the small ‘I’ that committed the mistake and embrace it with loving kindness.
Mistakes that can be quantified by money are the easiest to get over. It is those that are intangible which leave the deepest imprint on our souls and, in turn, contribute to our growth and evolution.
What do you think?
<div class=”substack-post-embed”><p lang=”en”>Mid-week Musings: Do we really learn from our mistakes?
We make mistakes. Sometimes, big ones. Live with regrets for a long time. Eventually make peace with them — when we realise the past cannot be undone and we have travelled too far.
The cliche’ question is what did we learn from the mistake? Did it teach us something that will stop us from committing the same folly again?
To my mind, that’s a simplistic view. Mistakes per se don’t teach us anything. Regrets cause pain but still don’t make a difference. Given a chance or faced with a similar situation — we will probably make the same mistake again.
Real learning happens when we realise the mistake has changed us as a person in some way (hopefully for the better — though not always necessarily so). That can be therapeutic. But it is a slow process which happens subliminally.
Being harsh or punishing ourselves for the errors can only cause trauma or scald our consciousness. Wisdom lies in loving and being kind to our own selves.
This calls for a certain level of detachment that comes with age — when we begin to understand “Who am I?”. Then the big ‘I’ who is the witness is able to forgive the small ‘I’ that committed the mistake and embrace it with loving kindness.
Mistakes that can be quantified by money are the easiest to get over. It is those that are intangible which leave the deepest imprint on our souls and, in turn, contribute to our growth and evolution.
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