Mistakes of the Mind

We've all heard the saying "boys will be boys," haven't we? Yeah? Well, I've got a new saying to add to that - humans will be humans.

Now if you're a person that frequently looks at my blog (now that, people, is HOPE) you'll know that I recently posted about mistakes. If you haven't seen that post and you want to see that post, you can check it out by clicking this link right now. Do it - I dare you! 

So, we're all human beings, right? Which means we have on thing in common, no matter what gender you are, what age or where you live. And that thing is that we all do make mistakes. If anyone has ever said to you that they have never made any mistakes then they're probably the worst of them all because WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES IN LIFE. No matter what, we all make mistakes.

As I said in the other post, some are big and some aren't. Some are due to sheer stupidity and some are simply because you made the wrong decision. And that's okay. It's how we learn. Where I am right now, there's a thing on the wall that says, "Don't judge your ability by your first attempt. Judge it by wither you keep trying and keep learning. And don't let anyone else judge it."

Keep learning.

That, my friends, is what happens when you make mistakes. You learn. If you're at school and you're working on an assignment and you get something wrong - you've made a mistake but because of it, but you'll also find out where you went wrong and what you should to change it...and that is how you learn.

Some mistakes, though, just shouldn't be repeated. Such as the example I used in the other post with the skateboard, which is the example of a stupid mistake. It was someone's conscious decision to not wear protective gear and go skateboarding and it was because of their decision, their mistake, that they got messed up and ended up in the Emergency Department.

But one thing I've found in life that there are some mistakes that we can't help but make, over and over. I'm certainly guilty of that. The other day I hit something with my rather messed up hand...again. It's a mistake I've made way too many times but in my mind it is still a mistake. It's not something I've been doing for attention. It's not really even something I've been aware of, I was just in a really bad mood and I was in what I call a "panic state" and it just...happened. I lost control of my mind and my body and that was my mistake.

So what happens in that situation? In my opinion if the same mistake is made often enough, one of two things will happen. One, you'll realise it is indeed a mistake and work to get off that path and get on the correct one or two, you'll get so used to it that it'll just...happen. I'd say it happens because of neural pathways in your brain and all that which is just something that I'll never be able to understand myself.

And that's what happened to me. I know it's a bad decision but half the time I don't even know what the heck I'm doing; it's an automatic response to a bad situation. And in that case it's hard to control.

But control is possible. Anyone who says it's not is lying and is a very, very stupid person that you should never listen to. I've had it all, anger issues, anxiety issues. And I know that if you work hard you can control those urges. The trick is to be on the ball.

I'm pretty sure most of you have at least played a game before, so I'm going to use a reference to that to explain what I want to say. So, say you're playing a game and you know that something is going to happen but you don't know when - what do you do? Do you sit back and wait for it? Or do you proceed with caution and when it does happen you take charge and minimise the impact?

I'm willing to bet most of you are going with the second one.

And that's what you need to learn to do with your mind. First you've got to figure out what's going to set you off to make the mistakes. There's always a trigger. Whether it's in an exam or if it's in the case of me and hitting things in emotional distress. There's always a trigger that can cause these repetitive mistakes. Maybe you're making them because you're doing things too fast.

So once you identify your triggers you can control them better. You can start to get a feel of what is going to happen, and with that, you can prevent what is going to happen. It's not a perfect process - which you probably have realised because I'm guilty of doing the same things over and over - and it does take hard work but I believe it can happen. There are two things that I think you need to do.

The first is working on the physical side of things; reflexes and such. I think this primes your mind for mental reflexes. And the second is relaxation. YOU NEED TO HAVE DOWNTIME. This is an absolute need. Whether its by meditating, reading or watching television, you need it.

Mistakes of the mind do happen and they can be hard to control. But you can do it. If you're struggling you can get help from people; one of my friends has been my biggest support. But it's really down to you to be conscious of the choices you make, keeping in mind of what's going to happen and preventing the impact of when it does happen.

You can do it - I have faith in you!