Oops, Was That a Mistake?

What’s a mistake? A mistake is a bad pass. A flub. 

If you play football, basketball, or other sport where you throw a small object around, mistakes happen every game all the time. A pass that accidentally goes out of bounds. A shot that goes two feet too far to the left of the goal. All. The. Time. Every game. 

A mistake is a woopsy. 

Fear is the unlock.

Fear before and after mistakes can knee-cap you. Or freeze all action. The opposite of paralysis in the face of mistakes is not epic perfection, or glorious accomplishments, it’s just the mundane act of keeping playing. 

When the ball goes out of bounds, the game doesn’t end, the world doesn’t collapse, everybody just keeps playing. Soon, another mistake is made. We don’t stop, discuss, or try to learn. We just keep playing.

There’s time for review later. Now, keep playing. 

Walk on, stumble, fumble, mumble, twist, look away, sprint on. 

Face this fear. It’s not pretty. It’s not glamorous. It’s banal, mundane, matter of fact.

A mistake is a flub. A mistake is a teensy little flubby flub. 

A setback vanishes into memory. Walk past, move on.