A DELIBERATE MISTAKE
My first week back at work saw me slipping into a new role and learning the ropes. And as with any new skill you acquire, it is expected you hit a few bumps in the road as you adjust. I jumped right in with trepidation, eager to get the newness over and done with so I could get to work. I read the manuals, cried out for help, typed manically away on my computer and eventually submitted my first batch of documents for review. A couple of hours later a new email found its way to my inbox carrying with it feedback on the work I had done so far:
“Thanks for your help today; all the lab sheets were excellent. I even found your deliberate mistake! I picked up one typo on the ID but I’ve fixed that now.
Once again, thanks very much! Have a nice weekend”
My deliberate mistake…
Seeing that phrase resulted in an unexpected giggling fit and my realisation that I had made another deliberate mistake: starting the year feeling dejected and indifferent due to an incomplete review of 2016. I had allowed the gravity of the tragic world events that happened last year to completely cloud all the good that happened in my personal life which in turn prevented me from being able to be see 2017 in a positive light. Normally, I enjoy setting goals at the start of a new year and tracking my progress but I really struggled to be in that frame of mind this time round. Knowing this toxic view on things was not going to lead to a happy ending I immersed myself in the many ‘New Year Resolutions’ and/ or ‘My 2016 in Review’ videos a handful of my favourite YouTubers published to change my mind set; some of my favourites included HeyClaire’s, The Anna Edit’s, Arden Rose’s and Jenn Im’s.
Listening to the many good things that happened to others last year, I grabbed my journal and read all my entries to get a detailed review of how 2016 was for me as my memory is sadly a tad unreliable. It was the first time I had done that in a while and found it incredibly enlightening: my 2016 was equally shitty as it was great. 2016 had its ridiculously funny, eye opening, cry-me-a-river, empowering and humbling moments for me as I am sure every year does. And realising this gave way for hope to make its home in my heart again as I embarked on Adriene’s ‘Revolution’ yoga camp. The loosening up of my perspective and body has now allowed me to warm up to the idea of distilling what I want to get out of every month this year and make plans on how to achieve them.
With every new year it is expected that we hit a few bumps in the road as we adjust to our evolving roles. And upon reflecting on our adventures we will undoubtedly discover many deliberate mistakes that we’ve made which presented a handful of character building opportunities.
So, here's to the new year and our many deliberate mistakes !