Moving On

If you have never made a mistake, then you are either an angel or you are dead.

Making mistakes is what makes us human. It is in the fabric of our humanity. It is our inherent weakness, but it is also our inherent strength…if, we choose to learn from our mistakes and from the mistakes of others.

If you want to call something a mistake, you should call not learning from mistakes as a mistake. If you have not gained anything from that experience, then that is a mistake.

Making mistakes is one of the best ways to learn, if we are willing to learn from them. The difference between a successful person and a non-successful person is not that the successful one didn’t make any mistakes.

The difference is that the successful person has the courage to embrace mistakes, to learn from them, and to apply what they learned. In order for us to learn from mistakes, we have to first provide some room for mistakes to happen.

That doesn’t mean that we intentionally make mistakes, and then we use the “Oh, I’m only human” line as an excuse. We should take responsibility for our actions. If we know better, then we should do better.

Providing room for mistakes means that we provide an environment where when people make mistakes, they are given opportunities to learn from their mistakes. An environment where they are not being condemned for making mistakes, but they are given guidance to go back on the right track.

This is the kind of environment that allows for and encourages personal growth.

We should give people opportunities to repent, to make amends, and to set things right. But often times we don’t allow for that growth to happen. Often times we stunt that growth. When people make mistakes, we imprison them in their mistakes and we label them by their mistakes.

How do we expect them to move on with their lives if we keep reminding them of their past?

If you made a mistake, then you should learn from that mistake. Repent and move on. If that mistake involves another person, then go apologize, give them their due right, and make peace. Dust yourself off and move on.

If the past comes back to haunt you, it would be a painful reminder. But the past is a reminder of who you were, not who you are. Despite what you did in the past, you can still change your future, depending upon what you do in the present.

The present; the here and now. What you do right here and right now will determine who you are. You are currently writing or re-writing your own story. You are the author of your own story and the story is not over yet, because you’re still breathing.

Allah gave you the power to choose however way you want to live your life, from this point on.

Choose wisely, and the future can still be bright.