Let’s face it – we have done things in the past that we are certainly not proud of. Whether it is choosing wrong relationships, saying things that have hurt close people, or not valuing given opportunities as much as we should have; life is full of doors that can bring even the most calculated and bright individuals to their downfall when wrongly opened. It almost seems as if destiny is playing a dark joke on us: whenever we stand in front of one of those doors, life is teasing us to open it. Are we going to make the correct decision? Or are we going to choose the wrong door and fall into our demise?
The inability to read the future and know the upcoming events in a sequence full of variables, a sequence we refer to as “life,” seems daunting at first. The pressure to navigate the maze ahead of us correctly is a burden we all are carrying on our shoulders. However, at the same time, we have to realize that this is the human condition: without facing the maze of life and its potential to bring us down, we are not living – we are simply in a standstill, a ceasefire that hinders us from developing into the person we ultimately want to be. In other words, we have to decide for ourselves which of those two the lesser evil will be; are we going to make a leap of faith and hope for the best, or are we going to turn our heads away from the door, immobilized in our fears of making mistakes and ending up as a failure?
It is easy to fall into the trap of desperately trying to erase the past. We have all dreamed of possessing a time machine at least once in our lifetimes, turning time back in order to avoid our errors. At the same time, we all know that this is just wishful thinking – we cannot re-write history, and mourning over spilled milk doesn’t seem to help much either. The only antidote to the chaos that life brings is to take responsibility for our shortcomings and face the consequences of our wrong-doings at our present time, instead of regretting things that have already happened in the past. The ability to move on but keep past mistakes as a warning sign for future life decisions in our heart simultaneously; that in and of itself is a superpower. Possessing such power can strengthen our mental foundation and keep turbulences that life has in store for us at bay. Building such mental endurance and maturity in order to avoid crumbling in fear and desperation whenever storms come to wreak our lives seems crucial to a fulfilling life. Having a realistic expectation of life, in general, seems to aid in managing the way we view our mistakes. Nobody is perfect, and the same mistake you just did was probably repeated by a myriad of other people too.
To conclude, realizing that mistakes are parts of life early on can alleviate a lot of the anxious thoughts one might have of making them in the future; turning them into a learning opportunity and avoiding the same mishaps of the past is often times the most effective way to grow as a person. It is no secret that our greatest lessons in life are learned at the worst times – it’s just that we do not understand the value of that lesson immediately. Therefore, keep in mind: the past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it. The present is here, so live it.
About the Author
Jonathan is from Frankfurt, Germany and is a senior majoring in Business Administration. Jonathan has been living in Korea since 2018 and plans on pursuing a career in finance after graduation.