Thankful for Mistakes
This weekend I was baking cookies and thinking about what I’m thankful for….
You know the usual stuff popped up – family, friends, love, health……
Then I thought, you know what, I’m thankful for all the mistakes I have made in my life. I won’t reiterate them here as there are many.
You might be thinking – what?! MISTAKES?! Girl, you’re crazy – no one is thankful for their mistakes.
Or maybe you’re saying – sure I get it, you’re better off for having gone through them.
Well, yes and no.
I am thankful for the experience – true – however, I would’ve welcomed another way to learn the same lesson.
What I am thankful for is resilience. Yes, a bit of a buzz word, but here is what I’ve come to realize ….
Resilience is a skill not a state. I am not resilient but have the skill to bounce back in the face of adversity. Candidly bouncing back may take a lot longer than desired - in my case some rebounds were years in the making.
And, while I would welcome resilience as a superpower, it doesn’t work that way for me. It comes back gradually, like remembering how to ride a bike and balancing on it again for the first time in a while. It comes back, but a bit unsteady at first…. quicker the more I use it.
And that is why I am thankful for my mistakes, because sometimes adversity happens to you and not because of you. My mistakes prepare me for that.
How does resilience show up for you?
I'd love to hear your point of view.