Trial And Error

Trial and error: Experiencing something only to find either humanity or an individual’s society deems the experience inappropriate or harmful. That would be my definition anyway. It would also be the whisper behind my actions until know. I always thought of life as a time period full of mistakes which had to be learned from. I became accustomed to hearing,

“Brush yourself off and try again.” I tried.

I heard, “That’s the way the cookie crumbles” I believed them.

“Roll with the punches!” they would advise. I tried harder. This way of idealizing my actions became natural. As natural as inhaling or exhaling.

In other words, when I fuck up, I learn the consequences, when I fuck up again, I re-learn the consequences and this continues until, out of shame or punishment, I pump my brakes on making the same “mistake.”

This method of learning is faulty and unproductive. My man Lao Tzu said it right, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” Today this quote, aside from sounding slightly cheesy, carries a strong relevance and a simply simple message. If life is the ‘journey of a thousand miles’ and a ‘single step’ is what we think of as a mistake then I would like to think there are no mistakes. Only steps. No regrets. Only steps. No error. Only steps.

The thought alone creates a smile on my face. Take your steps, sometimes you’ll trip, but the climb never ends. The higher you are, the better the view. ;) It’s the same with a scientific hypothesis. Before the the correct hypothesis there are the duds but without the duds there would be no success.

Recognizing my actions as steps rather than 'mistakes I must learn from’ has uncovered expansive clarity and confidence within me. I challenge you to make a change today. The moment you say something you feel regret over or maybe you screw someone over and wish you hadn’t, see it as a step to a higher ground. Reflect on your action and use it to power you up and beyond. Always make a positive act following a negative... AKA: Smile at a kid, or pay someone’s expired meter. Let go of rusty methods of learning and find more productive ones. Enjoy!