Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Admit your mistakes


Many years ago I had read a story which made a deep impression on me. It was about a group of boys who, whilst playing a game of cricket, had broken the window of a neighbour. While most of the kids ran away in fear, there was one brave lad who stood his ground and, when the neighbour came, took ownership for the accident. The neighbour, pleasantly surprised at the boy's honesty, forgave him. It was a powerful story which talked about courage, honesty etc.

How many of us behave in that manner? How many of us have the boldness to acknowledge mistakes that we, as humans, sometimes commit? What is the point in pretending to be super-humans or perfect beings incapable of committing any error? When we admit to an error, we are not only being honest but are also making an unspoken promise to be more careful in the future. This is quite similar to the intention of confessing our sins in church. People start trusting those who have this quality in them.

Some people presume that denial is the best method. It gives them a feeling of ego boost, because they have not admitted any mistake. In reality, they cut a sorry figure in front of others when denying mistakes. There are some people who, when confronted, will start making counter allegations to divert attention. Alternatively, they will go to great lengths to defend their positions. They convince no one but, perhaps, themselves in the process.

The first step towards any progress is acceptance. We can make a move to a better position only when we agree that our current position is weak. If we feel everything we do is "perfect", we begin to stagnate. When we adamantly deny, we risk getting isolated. The choice is, therefore, very clear. Avoid making mistakes and if you do make it, accept it and move on.

What do you say?

"To err is human, to admit is super human" - Doug Larson

"I'd rather confess I'm wrong and be right, than claim I'm right and be wrong" - Maria Fontaine

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

No one is perfect,making mistakes are part of being human.One should have the courage to admit to one's mistakes.I believe that one must own up to his or her mistakes & also forgive others if they own up to theirs..
It's never too late to learn..Your best teacher is your last mistake..

Tyaagi

Vijay V said...

Beautifully Said.
To accept the mistake we need to have courage and courage enough to learn from that mistake.
"THERE ARE NO MISTAKES. ONLY LESSONS"

Thanks for such a nice message.

Brajesh Mishra said...

Completely agree. And it is so difficult to practise this. We teach our kids about the virtues of being truthful but when it comes to us, we are always looking at a scapegoat who can take the fall.

Apart from courage, it takes a lot of integrity to admit to one's mistakes

lakshmi said...

how many of us accept our mistakes.......ego stops us
it is also an inferior feeling that we seem to sense when we accept our mistakes..........
beautiful post Vish
thanks

Manivannan Sadasivam said...

Agreed :-)

Thanks a lot for sharing. BTW I'm remembered of a beautiful story told by Ramana Maharashi about accepting the blame, even when you have not done any mistakes. Bhagavan says by resisting the temptation of justifying ourselves, we we can burn our karmas.

Possible check out the lovely story in the link below.

http://prashantaboutindia.blogspot.com/2009/07/ramana-maharshi-says-resist-temptation.html

Rakesh Vanamali said...

The most powerful trait of a person is to readily accept his / her shortcomings! Nothing can be more appreciable and so truly respected!

ramesh sadasivam said...

Yeah, the best thing is to stick to the truth. Simply accept what we are and what we did. We can improve a lot.

I too was like the many who denied their mistakes until I saw one of my friend Anthony Jose standing silent before his father for some small mistake he did. That really inspired me.

Irene said...

So true! How I wish I could accept my own mistakes every time I made those mistakes. I admit it sometimes but at times I would do counter allegations as you said, hehe! But I am trying, that's natural to women.

Very motivational!