The Art of Being by Dennis Merritt Jones

Author:Dennis Merritt Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

48. The Blessing of Mistakes

Don’t be afraid to make a mistake; your readers might like it.

—William Randolph Hearst

One of the ways I try to affect people in a positive way is to write and send an e-mail message a day to a list of subscribers. In fact, that daily e-mail is the foundation for this book. I am uncertain just how many of my e-mail subscribers were bombarded with one of my messages recently. I understand that some people received it as many as forty times! Clearly, there had been a mistake made by one of the technicians who maintains our Web site, and I extended my deepest apologies for any inconvenience it may have caused my readers. Out of a few thousand subscribers, I received a good number of responses informing me of the problem. Most of them were lighthearted, a few of them were very “expressive” of their discontent over the inconvenience it had caused, and several even asked to unsubscribe. It is amazing how life continues to be a magnificent mirror, reflecting back to us exactly that which we project. To this, I quote Nelson Boswell, who wrote: “The difference between greatness and mediocrity is often how an individual views a mistake.” At first, even I was more than a bit upset with our Web manager. Then, one morning at four o’clock, I got it! My view shifted: this wasn’t about him; it was about my reaction to his “mistake.” This has been an interesting opportunity for me to practice what I preach. I invite you to see what value it holds for you as well.

The problem happened because I had requested the Web site manager to seek a new method so that the daily e-mail message could be sent out more efficiently. In other words, there would have been no problem at all if I had been willing to continue doing things in the manner in which they had always been done. However, what I have discovered over the years is that if I always do what I have always done, I will always get what I have always gotten. It’s not my way to settle for mediocrity if a better way to do something can be discovered. The operative word here for me is “discovered.”

Too often we choose to settle for the status quo because of the risk involved with new discoveries. We fear we may make a “mistake” venturing outside our box (current reality), and so we settle in for the long run, living our lives with an inner knowing that there is something greater awaiting us beyond our comfort zone. It woos us, inviting us to move forward into the unknown where anything is possible, including making mistakes . . . so we hold back. The belief is that mistakes are a bad thing. The fact is that a person who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new. Yes, it is safer not to make any mistakes, but that means

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