The importance of error

Old fashioned schooling, parenting and religion, have taught us to be afraid of making mistakes. Getting in trouble, being judged as a failure or sinful, and being punished in different ways for our errors, have locked in the idea that ‘getting it wrong’ is wrong. We collapse into guilt/shame, and fear taking risks because we might be judged for our efforts.

Yet what if error is the whole reason we are here? What if our life is meant to be full of mistakes? How else could we possibly learn what works and what does not?

The scientist might do hundreds of experiments which fail before they discover what works. They don’t beat themselves up for each error, they celebrate it as another step closer to success.

Our life on earth offers us unlimited opportunities to bugger things up majorly. The growth and learning potential is enormous. However, the judgments of self and others that we are ‘bad, evil failures’ lock us into a frozen guilt, unable to try the next experiment.

With some kindness and compassion, we can reframe our efforts as the natural learning process. We are finding out what works, what does not; what we like, what we don’t like; who we truly are, and who we are not. The brutal feedback of life is not confirmation that we are bad or inadequate—it is accurate guidance about what leads us toward love, and what leads us away from love and into fear.

Dropping the judgment around ‘getting it wrong’ means shedding the shame. Releasing this massive burden frees us to forgive ourselves and others for their mistakes, reframe them as learning experiences, and summon the courage to try something different.

Children raised in love are natural scientists, exploring and experimenting as they discover who they are. Let us love our inner child out of old shame, collaborate in new discoveries, and grow into our potential.