No one likes to make mistakes, but everyone does sometimes. That seems like a pretty basic truth, but there are people out there who still see perfection as the only true mark of character and judge others for even the tiniest errors while simultaneously refusing to acknowledge their own.
Those people are difficult to live with or work with on good days, and sometimes can be outright toxic on bad ones.
At least in terms of their personal development.
At heart, I am a perfectionist. I judge myself harshly for every tiny flaw in everything I do and often compare myself to others in ways that are not great for my mental health.
Which is all fine and dandy, but there are no A-pluses for life and my twenties made that very clear to me.
Classic goals like marriage, kids, and a white picket fence never appealed to me on a personal level and I began to wonder what I wanted for myself instead of what cultural osmosis had told me that a middle class white woman should want.
And often, it sucked.
Still, every time I took a chance, it made the next time easier, and over time I've become so much better at gauging when something is worth trying. If it is, I now know how to properly prepare myself to both have the best chance of success and how to be able to cope if I still fail.
Yeah, sometimes I still fail miserably, but I also succeed a whole lot more due to the experiences I've built up.
So make those mistakes. Throw everything at the wall to see what sticks, then try again with the knowledge you have gained.
And when you make a mistake that affects someone else, own up to it, fix it, and move forward.
