Making Good Mistakes

It has been a while since I last posted on the Sacred and Fit Blog. During the last six months, the Sacred and Fit program has been completely revamped, thanks to the insight and input of the first class of participants. They taught me so much and their suggestions will benefit the new class that will begin in early 2012. One of the most important thing I learned from them is the benefit of good mistakes.

My minister recently described a mistake as "the action one makes based on the known truth at the time." Certainly, life provides many opportunities to grow in an understanding of what is "true." What is true at one age or stage may not be true at another. So acting on the known truth at the time provides valuable information as we gain experience and maturity. We learn what does work by first learning what is not working.

In the vastness of learning to love and honor ourselves there is also room to make mistakes. It is possible to take less care of ourselves because we lack the knowledge of what we need, or we don't consider ourselves an important enough priority or we get stuck in certain types of habits that we can't seem to break. I believe that it is possible to view even "bad" behavior as a "good" mistake as long as we are conscious and aware.

Not everyone wants to be a raw-food vegan but what being a raw-food vegan requires is being conscious of what one eats. Not everyone likes to work-out but what marathon runners understand is that in choosing a daily practice some other things won't get done. Both the vegan and the runner choose consciously and are aware of the consequences of their choices.

So, if one chooses to eat hamburgers and watch tv for hours, do so as a choice and choose consciously out of the truth that is known. But beware! A lot is required to face the truth that is known, to honestly confront your own barriers and to move on from one truth to another. The good news is that when ever that happens, no matter how long it takes, it will be the right time for you. And whatever choices have led to that point have all been good.