In a world which now seems fascinated and obsessed with perfection I find myself inexorably drawn in the opposite direction.
My latest audible poison is ‘The Cruel Road’ by Iain Banks, I return to one of the most important books that I have ever read, but this time as an audiobook.
It draws me in and almost makes me cry each time I listen to another section.
Part of it is another trip back to a ‘childhood lost’ but mostly it is because the ‘hero’, Prentice is so far from perfect yet tries so hard to be the better man.
That would be me.
Every day, every single day, I get things wrong. I have errors of judgment and make mistake after mistake.
Maybe it is because I make so many mistakes that I embrace the concept of learning from failure, but the further on into life I go, the more I think that everyone is the same and it’s just that many people are trying to hide their mistakes, because society dictates we must be perfect.
I made a couple of real big howlers this week, one in my professional life and one in my personal. I decided on courses of action and didn’t execute either of them as well as I might have done.
In the first instance, I’ll punish myself and then I will try to learn. I’ll try to store and lock it so that when I am encountered with a similar situation again I will remember, the wind will open, and the course of action and outcome might be different.
An honest apology and reflection are the best foundations for learning from things when they go wrong, and becoming a little bit better.
(The art of accepting unconditional and honest apologies is also essential in the process).
Blog post number: 1634