Mistakes

This doesn’t happen to me often.  Doesn’t even happen rarely; but I had the opportunity to face someone who bluntly told me I had made a mistake.  It wasn’t a colossal mistake, gross injustice, or an embarrassing faux pas.  It was simply an oversight; but it led to choices this person felt she had to make.  I was taken aback.  Thoughts ran through my head.  In a way, I was a little cheeky.  I could not understand how I did this.  Did I?  Was it really a mistake?  I rationalized that my communication was clear and sufficient and this person just didn’t get it.  Then I thought I would chalk it up to recent workload, stress, personal stuff going on.  But the fact is that it was my fault.  For whatever reason, I wasn’t clear.  It was thoughtless of me to assume that the exchange was enough on a matter that was important to her.  I made a mistake and I had to own it.  If I couldn’t correct it, at least I had the chance to apologize for it. 

We all want to grow and be wiser; but we don’t want to go through the pain of it.  I feel that admitting your errors and learning from them is the process of a maturing adult.  I’m thankful that someone had the guts to bring my mistake to my attention.