Mistakes…

Something Good Waiting to Happen

Mistakes can be very hard to deal with. A person who makes frequent mistakes starts to second guess himself and becomes judgmental of his frequent missteps. The result of such scrutiny is a growing lack of self-confidence. He feels as if he is unable to do much well. The problem is that what you think about you bring about. I would like to share selected interesting quotations about mistakes.

Albert Einstein has said, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”  In the light of Einstein’s words, we find that when one steps out and takes a chance there are benefits even if they do not enjoy perfect success. There is a song that says that standing outside the fire may be safe, but in avoiding failure the person never gets the growth of learning something new. In effect, in some areas, he really has not lived fully.

Another quote that I like is from An Essay on Criticism, in which Alexander Pope wrote, “To err is human; to forgive is divine.” When we are willing to make a mistake and realize that doing so is part of the human condition, it puts us into the line where we receive God’s forgiveness and approval.

The problem of behavior built around mistake making is that people have difficulty in accepting that the blunder happened in the first place. We tend to deny the reality of the situation. In such a situation it is necessary to admit that we have made a mistake or the unlocking of the doors does not happen. We do not receive any new strategies nor do we end up having a beneficial paradigm shift.

Human error runs the gamut of poor choice to unacceptable behavior. We entertain ideas that are not really viable or behave poorly due to our mistaken values about God, miscalculations, opinions about friends, what to wear, what career path to follow, who to trust, how to make a schedule, where to go on vacation, or what car to buy. The list goes on and on.

There are good things that can happen due to a mistake made. Many inventions and life improvements have come about when a person working on a task makes a mistake. The mistake reveals something unknown, and life improves tremendously. There are many instances that can be spoken about. Here are a few.

Coca Cola came about due to the fact that a Pharmacist was required to redo his formula for a popular nerve tonic, stimulant, and headache remedy due to a prohibition law. Instead of adding wine he added sugar and the result was the syrup base for Coke and was later mixed with carbonated water.

Scotchguard was invented by a chemist working for 3M. She was trying to develop a rubber material that would not deteriorate from contact with airline fuels. She accidentally dropped some on her shoe. She later noticed that her shoes were dirty except for one area. Retracing her  steps, she remembered the spill on her shoe. That stain resistant compound became known as Scotchguard.

The Slinky toy was created when someone who was working on a spring coil for another use got a surprise. The spring rolled off his workbench, and, when it hit the floor, it kept rolling over and over itself. The popular toy had rolled its way into the toy boxes of most children in this country.

There are many inventions that resulted from mistakes made in research. These include fireworks, Goodyear rubber tires, improved methods of finger printing using Crazy Glue, and others too numerous to list. The important take away from all of these beneficial mistakes is that we should embrace them and learn from them. In practical terms the best way to generate new ideas is not by trying to hide from making mistakes. It is advisable that we expose ourselves to abundant conversations and considerations of rival ideas. Trying to discover ways to repurpose a formula or item discovered accidentally and taking it to a new level, is a basis providing utmost success in bringing the inventions we have used for years into current technology. Keep in mind that much of the advances in technology were discovered quite by a happy accident or mistake..

Do not fear stepping out and taking a chance. Give it to God and trust him. He will lead you towards the goal He has in mind for you.