Mistakes Are Okay

Last weekend I had the opportunity to visit a very good friend. We had so many wonderful conversations. One conversation in particular has been on my mind. It was a conversation about mistakes. My friend is a nanny for a family and talked to me about recent changes she has made regarding how she corrects the children. She changed her methods due to a book she read, The Connected Child: Bring hope and healing to your adoptive family. She read the book because she is beginning the process of adopting a child of her own but mentioned she thinks this would be a good book for anyone to read before starting a family.

But I digress. She explained that when a child she is watching does something wrong, she corrects her and then says, "Would you like to try it again?" I LOVE this concept for many reasons, the main reasons being this is how God relates to us. With God, we aren't punished for our mistakes. We aren't always given opportunities to have a redo, and sometimes there are repercussions of our actions, but when looking at the big picture, our mistakes don't keep us from spending eternity with Him.

I struggle with being hard on myself. I set unrealistic, unobtainable expectations on myself that no one else would ever put on me. As my sister pointed out, I am patient and kind to others. I need to treat myself the same way. "Be kind to yourself."

I need to be okay with the fact that I make mistakes. I need to take a moment to take a breath, relax, and give myself a re-do. After all, no one is perfect. What would make me think I'm the exception?