Are mistakes a good thing?
Life is a dynamic process. Things move and change constantly, and we do the same. Every so often along the way we are bound to trip up and make… a mistake. For some, the thought of making a mistake brings up a lot of fear: fear of looking bad or ridiculous, fear of being noticed, or fear of losing self-esteem. However, ask any group of people if anyone among them has never made a mistake in their life, and the answer will be a resounding “no”. But maybe, just maybe, they serve a purpose.
We can count on making mistakes in life, and plenty of them. But if no one is immune, then they must serve some purpose. They are learning tools. It can even be argued that they are necessary to success and growth. Each mistake we make is an opportunity to evolve. If we are willing to spend some time thinking about making changes to improve things in the next round, we will come out ahead.
Dance classes or classes of any sort are the place to experiment and try new things without fear of failure. If there is any good place to fall on your face, this is it. GO ahead, make the mistake, and then try, try again. Chances are that you won’t need 10,000 tries to get it right, like Thomas Edison did while inventing the lightbulb.
Even if you do fall on your face, it’s a chance to get up and try again. A steady pace wins the race. And really, we’re all in it together.
Learning from a mistake is a great opportunity for growth… after the fact has passed! It is not a fun process to go through. Just after you realize or are pointed out a mistake you made, it may feel embarrassing, it may seem to serve no purpose, it may look like a totally negative experience. Only after you think it through and figure out what you can take from it as a “lesson learned”, only then you internalize the positive outcome of your mistake.
Today, I made a mistake at work. I did not know it until I was told. Worse: I thought I was right all the time until the evidence was brought to my sight. Then I realized my mistake. I was embarrassed. I think (hope) I was able to learn from it and grow a little. Growth not always occurs in jumps. Most of the time, growth comes in imperceptible tiny bits.