It’s What Living a Full Life is All About

I was having a conversation with a friend, and she told me of a HUGE mistake she made. Well, huge in her mind. I listened and reminded her that our best life lessons usually come from big, whopping huge mistakes. So it’s only a mistake if you fail to learn the lesson. Later, I found these words from Cicero about feeling foolish in terms of mistakes. I somehow felt validated in what I shared with my friend.

On my drive home, I thought about mistakes I have made – big ones, small ones, fat ones, thin ones – and more importantly about the lessons I learned from those mistakes. I do not think I would be living the life I do today if it had not been for some of the huge ones. And I KNOW I would not be who I am if I had not truly faced the tough lessons and made life changes. Growing up is tough, especially as you review the years behind us and think about the years in front of us.

All that being said to remind you that as the year draws to a close, looking back can be productive if you put your lessons learned into perspective. The mistakes can be tough to live with as they tend to haunt you or leave you feeling less than; and yet, mistakes also help us become a better version of ourselves. Life is a roller coaster ride – ups and downs with twists and turns – that often leave us feeling disoriented as things do not always work out to plan.

As we close out 2024, take a deep breath. Look back with pride as you see what you have survived, accomplished and learned. And look forward with excitement and joy as any day above ground is a good day. Learn from your mistakes AND know that you will hopefully have the opportunities to make many more. You are not a failure or flawed if you make a mistake, you are missing out if you fail to learn the lesson that mistake offers. Be willing to learn and grow, as that is what living a full life is all about.