IT IS OK TO MAKE MISTAKES

Ever wondered what stood in front of you from excelling, from shining? From being that person you want to become. From achieving that goal you have set yourself to achieve. Well I think I got that figured out, not that because I am smarter than you but because I went through the same shade you are going through.  The same fear of being scared to be wrong. Yes the shade that made it impossible for me to shine, to be who I would love to become. The fearful, the judgemental and cynicism voice that says, don’t attempt it, rather leave it for the intelligent. Why do we become like this? Why do we continue to be so hard on ourselves? Let me tell you, it goes back a long way back to where we come from. 

Growing up, when you were shouted at when you dared made a mistake or even got a hiding for being wrong on your maths paper. Getting older when you got to be ridiculed for broken grammar and knowing that the only way to please people is to be always perfect and make no mistakes. This not only has impacted on our progress negatively but also stole our self-confidence.  We have come to live according to the default rather than design. We have let others determine how we live our lives. We have become so afraid to be wrong. This has not only affected us individually but affected us as a nation. We have become people who are afraid to implement changes because we think we are not good enough.  We choose to sit and do nothing about it because we scared people are not going to accept our vision.

 I am lucky enough to be one of those who arrived at a place where I learned that it ok to be wrong. Where you are not judged on how you pronounce English words, where you are allowed to do anything that you set your mind to. The place where it is ok to fail, where you know that making a mistake is viewed not only as a learning curve, but a stepping stone to getting to being right. This brings me back to those many times when you have been judged by others for speaking English in the way that was perceived by others as unsophisticated?  Then you never dared to try to speak again publicly to shy away from the ridicule and humiliation. You are not alone; I went through the same ordeal and now am at peace in knowing that greater is He that lives in me.  Knowing and believing that I have this giant wherever I go, have given me the new courage and perspective on things. You too can change your perspective by believing in the one that lives in you and know He will catch you when you fall.

I just want to urge you as parents, to please let your kids know that it is ok to be wrong. It is ok to break the English language, as long as you get what they are saying. In this way they are quickly learning.  Help them restore their confidence without judging them, pat them on the shoulder for those small things achieved and try not to focus on the bad.  Allow them to shine and don’t set limits for them. They are on their learning journey  and the more you allow them to be as free as they can be they will ultimately fly. I like a wise man words that says “The greater barrier to success is the fear of failure” by Sven Goran Eriksson.

When fear comes knocking at my door I just remind myself that My lovely father says to me on Deuteronomy 31:16 “ Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”

                                                Stay blessed!