Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

Some of the worst mistakes I make are my mistakes about my mistakes and the corrections of my mistakes. Confused? Most of us are.

We all make mistakes. Sorry to write that, but it is true. Then we make meta mistakes. These are mistakes about our mistakes and the corrections of our mistakes.

“Well,” I like to say after recognizing a big boo boo (slang for “stupid mistake”), “I was tired on that day and didn’t understand what someone told me and they didn’t explain it well and it was last month and nothing bad happened and you know, let bygones by bygones and water under the bridge and please, no one hold me accountable for my stupid mistake, please.”

Enough excuses. I was mistaken. Will I compound that mistake with a meta mistake? Will I correct the mistake? Will my correction be mistaken as well?

Of course we can dwell in the past too much. Of course we can fall into analysis paralysis. And of course, we can ignore what we did and what we did in reaction to what we did.

I recommend thinking. That is often painful, but usually beneficial. Excusing a mistake and moving along as if it never happened… Ooooops, that’s an excuse. See how easy it is? The mistake didn’t happen, I MADE A MISTAKE; I WAS MISTAKEN. I cannot move along as if I was not mistaken. I must admit MY MISTAKE, count the costs, and do tasks to recover from MY MISTAKE.

Otherwise, my meta mistake just makes everything worse.