Mistakes
often get a bad reputation
because they are
linked with regret.
But not every
mistake is a regret
or
regret is a mistake.
Separated from regret,
we can ask,
"what did I learn?"
In school,
that mistake reinforced
a mathematical concept
I still use to this day.
That mistaken attempt
showed that
improvisation is spontaneous actions
after years of learning that craft.
What lessons have
mistakes taught you?
When I became a
parent, I learned how to give
grace to my mistakes
I wouldn't want my
children to bear the same shame
I carried so long
It's funny what we
become capable of, when
it's for someone else
I hope my kids can
forgive others because they
first forgive themselves
To all the mistakes
I have ever made,
a parting kiss
and a scrapbook page.
Two truths:
1. I don't like mistakes,
especially the ones I haven't made yet.
They make me feel like
I am rotten
bad
at fault
out of control.
2. I need to make more mistakes,
practicing the up and down
in the right environment,
to find I am human
good
learning
not in control.
one. maybe two.
Seventy times seven?
well, ok, if you say so,
I'll keep trying.
but you still owe me an answer,
was free will one of yours?
That thing I said in front of somebody’s kid
The guy I dated when I was 18
The days I spent doomscrolling
The way I let that person trample my boundaries
The way I told stories to excuse the hurt I survived
The violin I left and had to go back for
The words said in anger
The time I was silent
The time I spoke up
—are these enough excuses to show that I’m human?
—and can I let them go when they insist on running replays?
Each day a new chance to begin,
a new chance to break.
A mistake sounds so accidental
a little missed step
a stumble
something not quite right
and yet when I ask myself -
was it all a terrible mistake?
that decision
that relationship
that job
that move
that which leaves me
agonizing
overthinking
doubting
wondering
if really it was all right
or if it really was all
a mistake
Mistakes I've made include trusting
in things and people not worthy of my trust,
not trusting my inner voice, not trusting in
God's love and grace as freedom and hope to
bank a life on.
Not realizing all the answers to life's
questions are in the breeze underneath
a hawks wings
Mistake
“to be wrong about or to fail to recognize something or someone”
For so long I was mistaken about the meaning of “friend”
I thought the years we shared, those formative, teenage to young adult years
In youth group and young singles group and all the
Birthday parties and weddings and engagements and baby dedications and graduations
Meant something to you
It meant something to me
But because I left that brick building
Because I finally listened to my most authentic self
All of those years are now forgotten
You said it was ME making the mistake
I guess I did make a mistake
One that lasted for 17 years
I cannot erase it,
I cannot cross it out,
I cannot forget it.
But I’ve started a new season
And there’s no mistaking it
I’m better off without you
Sometimes I worry
about making a mistake
then I remember…
That so often I
learn from mistakes
that I made before.
Bring on the mistakes
it’s part of who I am and
who I am becom(ing) ;)
What a beautiful reflection on mistakes! I love this prompt.
I really love and appreciate your poem and reframe Kaitlin!! 💜🙌🏼
Trying to break patterns
of perfectionism and shame
I cringe at the word mistakes
The word holds so much
expectation and negative connotation
I see mistakes as messy
parts of our humanity
that are held in our wholeness
and create opportunities to grow
in compassion and relation
with self and others
I think I just need a new
word for mistakes
Mistakes
often get a bad reputation
because they are
linked with regret.
But not every
mistake is a regret
or
regret is a mistake.
Separated from regret,
we can ask,
"what did I learn?"
In school,
that mistake reinforced
a mathematical concept
I still use to this day.
That mistaken attempt
showed that
improvisation is spontaneous actions
after years of learning that craft.
What lessons have
mistakes taught you?
When I became a
parent, I learned how to give
grace to my mistakes
I wouldn't want my
children to bear the same shame
I carried so long
It's funny what we
become capable of, when
it's for someone else
I hope my kids can
forgive others because they
first forgive themselves
To all the mistakes
I have ever made,
a parting kiss
and a scrapbook page.
Two truths:
1. I don't like mistakes,
especially the ones I haven't made yet.
They make me feel like
I am rotten
bad
at fault
out of control.
2. I need to make more mistakes,
practicing the up and down
in the right environment,
to find I am human
good
learning
not in control.
one. maybe two.
Seventy times seven?
well, ok, if you say so,
I'll keep trying.
but you still owe me an answer,
was free will one of yours?
That thing I said in front of somebody’s kid
The guy I dated when I was 18
The days I spent doomscrolling
The way I let that person trample my boundaries
The way I told stories to excuse the hurt I survived
The violin I left and had to go back for
The words said in anger
The time I was silent
The time I spoke up
—are these enough excuses to show that I’m human?
—and can I let them go when they insist on running replays?
Each day a new chance to begin,
a new chance to break.
A mistake sounds so accidental
a little missed step
a stumble
something not quite right
and yet when I ask myself -
was it all a terrible mistake?
that decision
that relationship
that job
that move
that which leaves me
agonizing
overthinking
doubting
wondering
if really it was all right
or if it really was all
a mistake
Mistakes I've made include trusting
in things and people not worthy of my trust,
not trusting my inner voice, not trusting in
God's love and grace as freedom and hope to
bank a life on.
Not realizing all the answers to life's
questions are in the breeze underneath
a hawks wings
Mistake
“to be wrong about or to fail to recognize something or someone”
For so long I was mistaken about the meaning of “friend”
I thought the years we shared, those formative, teenage to young adult years
In youth group and young singles group and all the
Birthday parties and weddings and engagements and baby dedications and graduations
Meant something to you
It meant something to me
But because I left that brick building
Because I finally listened to my most authentic self
All of those years are now forgotten
You said it was ME making the mistake
I guess I did make a mistake
One that lasted for 17 years
I cannot erase it,
I cannot cross it out,
I cannot forget it.
But I’ve started a new season
And there’s no mistaking it
I’m better off without you
Sometimes I worry
about making a mistake
then I remember…
That so often I
learn from mistakes
that I made before.
Bring on the mistakes
it’s part of who I am and
who I am becom(ing) ;)
What a beautiful reflection on mistakes! I love this prompt.
I really love and appreciate your poem and reframe Kaitlin!! 💜🙌🏼
Trying to break patterns
of perfectionism and shame
I cringe at the word mistakes
The word holds so much
expectation and negative connotation
I see mistakes as messy
parts of our humanity
that are held in our wholeness
and create opportunities to grow
in compassion and relation
with self and others
I think I just need a new
word for mistakes