Whether you smashed your phone, realized the moment you walked into class that you never studied for the exam, broke trust within a relationship, or anything similar to these things… you made a mistake.
Now if you are anything like me, you don’t make mistakes often. And if you are anything like me, you dwell on those mistakes because you “don’t” make mistakes, right? Well, I have realized that making mistakes in college is SO EASY. You have so much on your mind it becomes almost impossible to stay on top of things. Think of all the decisions you are forced to make now and life begins to pick up pace.
And in college, you don’t have your parents or the excuse of being young and naive to make up for those mistakes. So what do you do?
Now I am obviously telling you what you already know, but there must be a reason you are reading this. You are stuck.
How do you fix your mistakes? How do you move forward?
Sometimes you can’t “fix” the mistake, but it is important that you try. It is also important that you forgive yourself. How do you expect to rationally approach the situation or have someone else forgive you if you cannot? Stop dwelling on what you cannot change and take a breath. Think of this all as a learning experience. Now you will buy a shatterproof case, now you will keep track of your exams in your agenda, now you will act differently in your relationships.
I have always said that your biggest enemy is yourself. If you keep replaying what happened in your mind you will drive yourself crazy! Give yourself 10 minutes to completely sulk and tell yourself everything you could have possibly done differently to prevent the mistake, but then let it go. Ten minutes is all you get.
Remind yourself that everyone messes up and sometimes mistakes turn out working in your favor. It is probably time that we both get comfortable with making mistakes.
Congrats, you are human. Never forget you are not the only one who has effed up.