Good morning! As I shared in last Monday’s post, I took some time this past weekend to fully unplug and recharge. It was refreshing! I don’t have a full post today, but wanted to drop in to share a quote that I wrote down during one of the videos on my weekend retreat.
If only we could live two lives: the first in which to make one’s mistakes, and the second in which to profit by them.
D.H. Lawrence
Have you ever wished you could go back and undo your mistakes? While it would be nice to have the opportunity to live life over again with all the knowledge and wisdom we’ve gained in this life, we can’t.
Each of us has have just one life. We can’t undo past mistakes. But we can learn from them and resolve to stop repeating them.
So, as we start a new week and signs of spring renewal are all around us, there’s no better time to forgive yourself for past mistakes.
Take a few minutes right now to reflect on your mistakes. Write down things you want to stop doing, or forgive yourself for, on a piece of paper. You could even burn the pieces of paper, shred them, or bury them. Because it’s never too late to start fresh.
Have a wonderful week!
Do you wish you could go back and start over with a blank page? What do you do to avoid repeating past mistakes? Drop me a comment below with your thoughts.
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Love the quote and the reminder that while we can’t change the past, we can learn from it and move forward.
Thank you! It is an important reminder. Dwelling on the past and continuing to beat ourselves up over things we’ve done wrong doesn’t do any good.
Oh yes there are some mistakes I would like to avoid! But then my course of life will change also. So, I am not sure, somehow it’s good we only have one life! Happy to hear that you enjoyed your recharging weekend!
Thanks Cristiana! That’s exactly the point. We can’t change the past, but we can learn from it and move forward.
Nice to read that you had a great weekend. Same here.
To avoid repeating past mistakes, I’d say find out why you keep making those mistakes. Then nip the ‘why’ in the bud. For instance, I love buying toys for my kids- it’s my guilty pleasure.
These toys are not cheap because they are imported. To curtail this habit I have decided to buy toys only on special occasions- i.e.: birthdays, long term holidays etc. More so, I have capped the maximum spend of each toy shopping at a reasonable amount.
I hope this helps someone in my shoes.
I’m happy you had a great weekend. You make such a great point into understanding why we make mistakes. That’s an important first step toward solving them. Thank you for reading.
Never too late to start fresh. Right. Thanks for the reminder fresh out of your weekend of rest and reflection! Have a great week, Michelle!
Thanks, Wynne. I wish you a wonderful week, too!
I stop doing my will and begin doing the will of God and it all works out fine.
I love that Essie! You would have enjoyed my weekend retreat.
Aho🙏
A few thoughts to ponder: What if DH Lawrence is wrong? What if our Creator recognizes that it takes more than just one lone lifetime to realize and correct mistakes? What if we are given many lifetimes and opportunities to learn, grow, and work our way up of the spiral of evolution toward the return of the soul to its source? What if we are forgiven regardless of our mistakes? What if the only thing we are here to do is love? Just wondering . . . 🙂
That’s an interesting point, Julia. Lawrence could be wrong. I suppose we could choose to continue our mistakes and resolve to live better in the “next life”. Or we could simply make the most of the one life we know we have.
Love and forgiveness are a whole other conversation. Is it okay to continue to hurt those we claim to love because we know we’ll be forgiven? Some people live their lives that way.
Interesting thoughts to ponder, for sure. Thanks for reading and taking the time to leave this comment.
I thought recently about the saying, “Learn from other people’s mistakes; you’ll never live long enough to make them all yourself.” While true in general principle, I sometimes think that learning from other people’s mistakes isn’t always helpful. For starters, not everyone’s experiences with mistakes will be applicable to your life and situation, nor is the definition of “mistake” universal for every person, given varying goals and stages of life. So, the cliche itself is not particularly helpful in a given moment when you are faced with making a decision that you don’t know if will be a “mistake” for you or not.
Beyond the limited application of the statement, I think part of the learning process for individuals is in the experience of making the choice and facing its consequences, good or bad. It’s still important to learn from mistakes, whoever makes them, but I think the lesson sticks with us more when we have felt the effects firsthand and know how it impacts our specific situation in life. So, mistakes, honest ones that you didn’t know better about beforehand, are not the end of the world and should be viewed with grace and a learning attitude.
Interesting post that got me thinking! Thanks.
That’s an excellent point, Gail. Learning from mistakes is part of how we grow. Learning and growth involves risk, and risk means making mistakes. Someone who’s never made a mistake has probably never taken any risks in their life. Thanks for reading.