The Circle of Mistakes

 

Several years ago, I made a big mistake.  Not my only one mind you, but a memorable one that I learned from.  

A younger friend of mine made the same mistake. He admitted it to our group because it was better for him to share than for us to find out. I gave him the headline at the time that I made the same mistake and that we understood. 

He reached out recently to talk about the mistake again. His was still fresh.  Mine was much older.  Mine already had cobwebs growing on it and you could see a tinge of rust but nevertheless, still clear in my mind. 

That's the thing about mistakes.  We all make them.  Hopefully, we learn from them and move on.  

But more importantly, maybe we can help someone weather the eye of the storm of their mistake. 

I was able to bring perspective and experience to my conversation with my younger friend. Hopefully, my post-storm, rearview mirror look helped him through his front windshield view. 

If my mistake became his GPS on how to get through his, then the circle of life worked. 

Circle of life. Circle of mistakes. 

Same thing.