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Do you find that you get angry with yourself easily? Like when you drop your things in a puddle on the ground in the rain and your late for whatever you have to be. Or you accidently bump and spill your drink onto someone while you’re carrying it to your seat at lunchtime, knowing that your apology isn’t enough for the mess you caused for example? You know, those silly little incidents that can make you yell, “Great, of course this would happen! What ELSE can go wrong today?”
It reminds me of a scene from the movie Bruce Almighty. Especially after life has doled out an array of traffic jams, misunderstandings, long lines, overly crowded streets, and a variation of individual ATTITUDES from our families, friends, neighbors, colleagues or just those passing by, long before 9 am.
What about when we have to deal with bigger mistakes? You know, like “accidentally” sharing a secret of a friend that you sincerely didn’t mean to bring up, but your mouth seemed to have a mind of its own. Betraying someone’s trust can be a doozy. There have been many fatalities filling up the BFF graveyards. Especially, if that friend struggles with the curse of unforgiveness and doesn’t have patience for human error other than their own.
Maybe, you’ve made a poor decision in your past that causes you to question your abilities today. Unfortunately, there isn’t a magic button that we can press to take back every “Oops!” moment that we’ve had. As I continue on this journey, I’m realizing that a magic button might uproot the lessons that I needed to learn along the way. Sort of a check to my character that tells me that there is more work to be done, if I am willing to walk in faith and humility.
The question is, do we always accept the challenge? Do we choose to allow our mistakes to dictate where we go, how we get there or how fast? If we do, what do we tell ourselves? Do we say, “That’s impossible, there’s no way.”, “I’m an idiot!”, or “Why would I ever try that again?” Of course, these statements are general, but you get the point. Do we partner with thoughts and actions that tell us that we can never recover from these things? Is there room for error and growth from it? If so, how much?
Even the Bible says that we are, “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14) For mankind to have obtained so much care and consideration in our design, makes me wonder if we should give up that easily. Should I label myself according to my imperfections and throw in the towel, or should I partner with a divine invitation to come up higher? Can I become more than my hourly imperfections (too much time on my phone), daily (too many sweets), or life changing mistakes (not pursuing my dreams earlier in life because of fear)? Should I partner with hope and make a conscious decision to seek, say and bear witness to the growth and transformation of… wait for it…ME?!! I don’t know about you, but I choose to be and remain hopeful. What do you CHOOSE to be? What is your confession today?
The Power of Words