March 1, 2007
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MISTAKES
Internet Island Topic Post #23: Making Mistakes
This time our topic is going to be about mistakes. Instead of asking specific questions, (but including a series of questions to either answer individually or to get you writers and would be writers thinking) I want you to read the following quotations and questions, and then create a blog entry in your own style (as you usually do) about a mistake, either personal or global. How do you "feel" about the concept of the "mistake". This word gets thrown around a lot in the workplace. Especially when something goes wrong. The fantastic successes are never noted or noticed because they work. Everyone zeroes in on the mistake.
"Everyone makes mistakes"
Or do they?
Have you ever made a mistake?
Did you ever do the right thing?
Did you ever do the right thing and somebody
you respected thought it was a mistake?
Are mistakes merely tools of learning?
Do we "Learn from our mistakes."
Are mistakes necessarily "bad"?
Should we indicate where mistakes are made?
What is a "happy accident"?
What is the "greatest mistake" in history or memory?
Could someone's greatest mistake be another's greatest victory?
(Ask Napoleon about that one.)
Is the concept of "blame" associated with the concept of the "mistake"?
Should it be?
I DECIDED TO START WITH THE
ACTUAL DEFINITION OF MISTAKE.
mis·take
(mi-stak') Pronunciation Key
n.
An error or fault resulting from defective judgment,
deficient knowledge, or carelessness.
A misconception or misunderstanding.
IT IRRITATES ME THAT PEOPLE THROW THAT
WORD AROUND, LIKE THE WORD LOVE FOR INSTANCE.
I AM SO SICK OF HEARING PEOPLE SAY THEY LOVE
ME THAT HAVE ON IDEA WHAT LOVE REALLY IS
OR EVEN KNOW ME ENOUGH TO LOVE ME,
JUST AS IN A SLANG SORT OF WAY.
TO MAKE A MISTAKE, AS THE ABOVE DEFINITION STATES
IS AN ERROR OR FAULT RESULTING IN DEFECTIVE
JUDGMENT, DEFICIENT KNOWLEDGE, OR CARELESSNESS,
MISCONCEPTION OR MISUNDERSTANDING.
TO ME THAT MEANS THAT YOU REALLY HONESTLY DID
NOT HAVE ANY IDEA IT WAS HAPPENING, IT WAS
TRUELY AN ACCIDENTAL THING, OR TRUELY AND
ERROR IN NOT THINKING SOMETHING THROUGH.
GETTING A TATTOO THAT YOU REGRET DOWN THE
ROAD IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF A MISTAKE.
ASK JOHNNY DEPP ABOUT THAT ONE!!
FOR SOMEONE TO SAY THEY MADE A MISTAKE DAMN
WELL KNOWING THAT THE END RESULT OF WHAT THEY
WERE DOING WOULD RESULT IN ERROR IS WRONG,
IT IS MORE OF A LIE. THAT TO ME IS NOT A MISTAKE
BUT NO MORE THAN A EXCUSE FOR LYING OR
CHEATING OR WHATEVER THE CASE MAY BE.
WHAT DO I CONSIDER A MISTAKE YOU ASK........
I REALLY CANT EXPLAIN WHAT I WOULD CONSIDER
A MISTAKE, BUT I CAN TELL YOU WHAT I DONT
CONSIDER A MISTAKE. HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES:
SPOUSAL ABUSE....THAT IS NOT A MISTAKE, IT IS
BULLYING AND BLAMING IT ON A LAPSE OF JUDGEMENT
OR WHAT NOT IS TOTAL BS..... THE ONLY MISTAKE IN
MY OPINION MADE DURING SPOUSAL ABUSE IS THE
FACT THAT IF YOU DONT MAKE THE "MISTAKE" OF
KILLING ME, YOU WILL LATER WISH YOU DID.
CHILD ABUSE..... SAME AS ABOVE PRETTY MUCH.
IT IS BULLYING AND THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IN
THE MISTAKE IS THAT I WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU
FEEL YOUR MISTAKE BY PAYING THE REST OF YOUR LIFE.
SEXUAL ABUSE..... READ ABOVE.
THOSE ARE ONLY A FEW EXAMPLES THAT ARE
NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART.....
HAVE I MADE A MISTAKE? WELL LETS SEE.....
CONSIDERING THAT I HAVE BEEN ON THE RECIEVING
END OF SPOUSAL ABUSE, I WOULD SAY YES.
MY MISTAKE WAS BELIEVING HIM, TRUSTING HIM,
AND RELYING ON HIM. THE MISTAKE WAS MARRYING HIM.
DID I DO THE RIGHT THING?
HELL YES, I GOT OUT OF THAT RELATIONSHIP AND DISAPPEARED.
WHEN I MAKE A MISTAKE WHAT DO I DO?
ME MYSELF, I GENUINELY TRY TO CORRECT THE MISTAKE
AND LEARN (YES OPERATIVE WORD HERE LEARN) SO
THAT I DONT MAKE THAT MISTAKE AGAIN!!!
DOING THE RIGHT THING AND BEING TOLD YOU
MADE A MISTAKE, THAT IS ANOTHER QUESTION....
I HAVE TO SAY YES, I HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING
AND BEEN TOLD I MADE A MISTAKE.... THAT IS LIKELY
TO HAPPEN WHEN YOUR MORALS TELL YOU SOMETHING
THAT SOMEONE IS DOING IS WRONG AND THE PERSON
THAT IT WILL EFFECT NEEDS TO KNOW AND YOU TELL
AND THEN ALL THE SUDDEN, YOU ARE THE BAD GUY!!!
I DONT CARE, I HAVE TO PUT MYSELF IN THE
SITUATION OF ASKING "WOULD I WANT TO KNOW THE
TRUTH" AND YES IT MAY HURT, BUT I WANT TO
KNOW THEREFORE, PEOPLE CAN SAY IT WAS
A MISTAKE, BUT I DONT THINK SO!!
DO WE LEARN FROM OUR MISTAKES.
I THINK PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE REAL MEANING
OF A MISTAKE AND GENUINELY GET IT DO LEARN
FROM THEIR MISTAKES, BUT THE ONES WHO THROW
THAT WORD AROUND, MY OPINION IS THAT IT IS
JUST A WORD AND NO THEY DONT LEARN AT ALL!!
MISTAKES SHOULDNT BE BAD, BUT SOMETIMES THEY ARE.
I BELIEVE THAT THEY COME IN DIFFERENT STAGES,
MISTAKES WITH MATH CAN RESULT IN NOTHING SERIOUS,
UNLESS YOU ARE A BOOKKEEPER,
THEN YOU COULD SEE JAIL IN THE FUTURE...
SHOULD WE INDICATE WHERE MISTAKES ARE MADE?
THAT DEPENDS, WHERE WAS THE MISTAKE MADE AND
WHO OR HOW DOES IT EFFECT THINGS?
ASK THE MAN IN THE ABOVE PICTURE!!!
PETEY MADE A MISTAKE STICKING HIS HEAD IN THE BISCUT JAR
A HAPPY ACCIDENT WOULD BE LIKE BUMPING INTO
YOUR SOULMATE, BUT I WOULDNT REALLY KNOW THE
ANSWER TO THAT ONE, BUT IT SOUNDS GOOD TO ME!!
CHERYL CROW WROTE ABOUT IT "FAVORITE MISTAKE".
ALSO, ANOTHER EXAMPLE WOULD BE MAKING AWRONG
TURN SOMEWHERE DRIVING ON THE ROAD AND
FINDING A WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL SITE!!
GREATEST MISTAKE IN HISTORY.....
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS ENDING UP HERE INSTEAD OF ASIA...
THAT WOULD HAVE TO BE IT!!
WORST MISTAKE IN HISTORY (MY OPINION)....
NOT KILLING BIN LADEN WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE
"THANKS PRESIDENT CLINTON!!! MAYBE IF YOU HAD
SMOKED YOUR CIGARS INSTEAD OF PLAYING WITH
THEM YOU MIGHT HAVE KNOW THIS!!!"
COULD SOMEONE ELSES MISTAKE BE ANOTHER'S GREATEST HISTORY?
I CAN ANSWER THAT IN TWO WORDS.........................
SPELLING BEE!!!!
MISTAKE AND BLAME........
WELL THAT DEPENDS ON WHO IS MAKING THE MISTAKE
AND THE EFFECT OF ONES MISTAKE... IF IT EFFECTS NO
ONE YOU HAVE NO ONE BUT YOURSELF TO BLAME,
ON THE OTHER HAND, IF IT EFFECTS SOMEONE ELSE,
THEN YES, SOMEONE SHOULD TAKE BLAME,
THE QUESTION IS DO THEY?
HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER THOSE QUESTIONS?
Comments (18)
I like your take on the word Mistake...I try not to use that word at all...because I think it is a scapegoat word. Make sense? Thanks for subbing me. Bye for now.
Keep your head down....worst is still to come. 8 students dead in Enterprise...so sad.
An excellent post on mistakes! I remember one I made at the thriftstore...also blogged about it. I saw this cute little purse hanging on the end of one of the racks. I went to look inside to find a price tag and OOPS...it was full of a woman's stuff. We all laughed about it...but it was an honest mistake!
Great post! Have a good weekend!
read my feb 26 entry and you'll understand the revenge thing from when I started this blog.
I enjoyed reading this post. It was like a stone skipping on the water. Fantastic picture of the soldier next to the queen - goodness me, one can see his crown jewels!
Very interesting post.
ryn: I'm using gloves, I'm not picking them up with my bare hands either!
Fortunately, the owner of my company has a favorite expression... "If you're not making mistakes, you're not working very hard". Great philosophy! I just don't like it when people don't take responsibility for their mistakes. It's so much easier to say, "I blew it & I'm sorry", at least it has been for me!
Great post!
Wow, that was deep for Saturday AM! Very good, I really liked the difference between a mistake and a lie. To many people fool with that one to much!!
Abuse - certainly not a mistake, that is just wrong and most often a crime. Sorry you have had to deal with that
I have made plenty of mistakes in my lifetime. I have also done things that were my fault and I should have known the result. I don't always do what's right. I think my bipolar has affected my better judgemant. I believe we learn from our mistakes. I don't think all mistakes are bad ones. I think the situation with hurricane Katrina was the most recent biggest mistake.
heck ya, I've made mistakes.
but I just hope each one was a learning experience.
Wow, I'm shocked (and happy) to see that someone else realizes that Clinton willfully chose to ignore Bin Ladin for eight years that he was in office. Awesome post
What a neat post. Thanks for putting so much effort into it. I like how you defined 'mistake,' too. It makes me think. Peace!
What a great and thought provoking post! Love this topic!
Dear Pogue,
Took me a while to respond, but I've finally gotten around to reading your entry. Thank you for participating. I'm mulling over the section where you detail abuse of all kinds. The person doing the abuse is usually exhibiting behavior that they might consider normal and sound, even though it is abusive to the receiver, whose mistake, as you point out, is in staying with an abusive spouse. Children have it the worst, because to a child, the parent is their God and mentor, and the child might not know where to turn if it their parent who is doing the abuse. We know now that abuse is much more widespread than ever before believed. I've actually written that I believe most people have been abused familialy in some way or another. My parents were very strict, and never "spared the rod", but a lot of times, the threat of punishment was enough to make us children "behave". I don't think of my childhood as abusive, but my sister does.
There are always degees of perception, and it is so with mistakes as well.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
mistakes....ok the biggest mistake i ever made was to leave T-bone fifteen years ago, or was it? i ended up in therapy, and working on myself. I really needed to put the focus on me. I miss the time we were apart, but I think our relationship is on track to day, because of our separation. I don't beleive in happy Accidents. I believe in the law of attraction.
Now if I let my customer walk out, without buying something, that will be a mistake!
I seriously think I serve as a warning to others. Whenever on of my good friends is bitching about her job, her lack of relationships, her financial status, her health....there I am to show her how it could be worse. And yet, I spend a LOT less time bitching about all that stuff than she does. Funny how that works.
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