Phoenix_RisingSenior Contributor
It's ok to make mistakes
Hi all,
I'm having a new super fun adventure; I'm learning to crochet with the awesome help of @CheerBear and @Former-Member. We are having a lot of fun over here. I am super excited that I seem to be getting the hang of it, and this morning my progress got me reflecting on the fact that it is so totally ok to make mistakes.
I am an extremely obsessive perfectionist. Everything I do has to be "right." I very much hold the view that if something is worth doing, then it's worth doing well. Go hard or go home! So it is always interesting for me to learn a new skill because realistically, everyone is hopelessly bad at something when they first start learning it. I had to really work at accepting this reality when I started learning to play the violin a few years ago, and I have to remind myself of it each time I start learning a new technique. Right now I'm learning a technique that puts me right back to sounding like a dying cat (I'm hoping my neighbours are clinging onto the hope that as with previous techniques, this one will improve with practice!!!). And so it is with my crocheting. Right now I'm pretty bad at it...and that's ok. It's ok to not be good at things. It's ok to make mistakes. It would be really boring if we were great at everything the first time we tried it.
And so it is with everything in life. Whether we are learning to regulate our emotions, or manage without alcohol, or ride out strong impulses to engage in harmful behaviours. When we start trying to learn these new skills, we will be hopelessly and amazingly bad at it...and that's ok. It's ok to mess up. It's ok to make mistakes. It's ok to bumble along in terribly wonky ways. With practice, we can get better at anything.
Sometimes our mistakes hurt others. That's ok too - if we can own the mistake, say sorry, and keep on keeping on. I don't really understand why some people struggle to say "I made a mistake and I am sorry." This can be such a powerful thing. It's ok to make mistakes.
So...here is me showing my wonky mistake-ridden crocheting. As you can see, it gets better with practice. If I never made the first wonky attempt, I'd never have made it to the less-wonky attempt, which in turn would never have taken me to the hey-I'm-getting-the-hang-of-this attempt (and thus the super cool feeling of mastery).
I don't know what skill it is that you are working on at the moment, but whatever it is, it's ok that you aren't great at it right now. It's ok that you make mistakes. With practice, you will get better at it. You can do it. You've got this! 
@Former-Member @Former-Member @Former-Member @NikNik @SleepyPanda
