DailyBlog : Afraid to Make Mistakes


Today’s question : If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

That’s a silly question. Sure, learning from a mistake is good, personal growth is good, but mistakes are still painful to make. No one likes to hurt. Being afraid of pain and having the desire to avoid it is an instinctual response for us in the interest to preserve our lives.

Mistakes also leave scars, especially for people like me. I don’t heal from pain easily if at all. I throw a Band-Aid on a wound and I try to get on with my life, but once in a while the wound will bleed through and I have to change the bandage. It doesn’t ever really heal, and if by chance it does, it leaves a scar. Sure, you could call that scar a lesson learned but again, the memory of the pain I had to go through before that scar appeared is not something to look back on fondly. If I did something and it ended painfully, I will absolutely admit to being scared to do it again, and that seems entirely sensible.

The trick is to decide which things in life are worth the risk. For example, I used to snow ski when I was little but I’ve had three knee surgeries on my ACL’s. I haven’t skied in many years because although it was fun, it wasn’t THAT big of a deal to me, and it’s not worth the pain of risking snapping my knee. However, horseback riding is something that gives me a LOT of joy and although it causes my body to ache, it’s worth it to me to do so a few times a year.

Fear exists to keep us sensible, so regardless of what we may take away from a mistake, going through it is still guaranteed to be painful. It’s not fear that concerns me, it’s the people that have none.

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