Stupid is as Stupid Does

Some of my best life lessons have been as a result of stupidity, either mine or someone else’s. The pain I felt after having the face the consequences of my actions left a defining mark on my thoughts process and skill levels. I also watched others suffer that same pain after this own mistakes. I made a mental note to NOT let that same thing ever happen again. It meant I had to think through what went wrong, how I was responsible and what I needed to change for it to not become a familiar friend.

We all do stupid things. We make wrong decisions, say stupid things, fail to ask the important questions, and we even fail to listen to that little voice in our heads warning us to stand back. All of these can be chalked up to plain and simple stupidity. It doesn’t mean we are evil, mean, or acting out of malicious intent, it simply means we forgot to engage our brains.

When dealing with other people it is important to acknowledge our own past errors to remind us that others also make stupid mistakes. When we act out of stupidity people forgive and forget, so we have to give that same courtesy to others. This mistake may be the important life lesson they need to move them forward or help them face the results of their own lack of forethought. No one wants to be Forest Gump – stupid is as stupid does – so we have to chalk mistakes up to stupidity instead of malice. It is when the mistakes continue over and over again that learning has not occurred and ill intentions may be a motive…or pure, no brained stupidity.

Next time you encounter stupidity be kind. We all do stupid things and hopefully learn. Give them time to learn the lessons they need, then forgive them. Otherwise everyone out there is stupid and we’re all in BIG trouble!