The Cost of Mending Mistakes
Everyone has made at least one mistake or one bad decision in their life. (If you haven’t, you’re either lying or not living).
Some of those mistakes or decisions sting more than others. Maybe it’s a moment you can’t let go of, obsessing over how you would have acted differently. Maybe it’s a moment whose effects rippled out and you still feel the waves of today.
People often say “I would do anything to take that back or make it right…” Would they, really? Anything? I know it’s not a literal thing - it’s more of an expression of deep regret or the desire to correct the situation. But it made me wonder, what are my own limits to repair something?
What would I give up to fix a mistake? Would “fixing” it change anything for the better or in the present? What does “fixing” it mean? Making it as if it never happened? As a graphic designer working with social impact clients, I often see the difference between intent and impact. Whether or not someone meant to do harm doesn’t change the fact that the harm still occurred. Is there really anything that can be said or done to undo that harm? Maybe healing is the best we can hope for because the scar is still there.
I think the best we can do with our mistakes is accept them. Accept how they affected others or our own life. Accept that we can learn from them, and hopefully not repeat them. Accept that they are unavoidable so putting ourselves in perpetual present-time misery for a past act is pointless. (Wow, heavy on the alliteration and P’s there lol)
This is me both exploring AND holding myself accountable as part of a 7-day writing challenge by Cole Schafer. He coughs up a prompt and suggests writing for 45 minutes, editing for 10, then posting. So, here we are… Welcome to my wacky week!
I usually hang out at my “SBLTN Lab Notes” newsletter. Feel free to stop by for all things accessibility, diversity & inclusion, and art & design.