To Err Is...

Act 152:

“It’s never too late… To Be Human

Too often we seek perfection. And despair when we don’t find it. There is glory in all facets of humanity. In our struggles. Our achievements. Our failures. Our imperfections. Perfection can be an aim. But it’s not a pleasant state for a human.” – Patrick Lindsay

Quote in book: “Every man is as God made him, and often even worse.” ~ Miguel de Cervantes

As humans, we all make mistakes. It’s what makes us human. We are not perfect nor should we expect ourselves to be. In all of our relationships, no one is always right nor is someone always wrong. This Act came along at a weird time for me.

A friend of mine is going through a really really bad break up. They had a whirlwind romance. They were friends first, but then once they crossed the line into lovers, it was fast. Within one week of acknowledging their feelings for each other, my friend had boarded a plane to visit her ex. About 3 months goes by and they take their first vacation together. Her ex then went off on her during the trip. My friend was berated, told she was not worthy of bring up kids with, and was just emotionally abused. After this very bashing, their romance came to an end.

So my friend told me that her ex began the “I’m a good guy” campaign the minute they got back from their vacation. The ex began to rally the friends trying to say the trip was good and then accused my friend of spreading the fact they broke up and painting a bad picture of the events. This was just a flat out lie. The ex then proceeds to use a mutual friend who is very vulnerable as a way to emotionally blackmail my friend. Her ex has basically used the mutual friend as a go between, never directly talking to my friend.

Why do I bring this up? Well it’s what happens after the break up that just makes me say…. WTF? What is going on? We all make mistakes. Let’s own up to them like adults and just move on. Or if you clearly are not going to ever admit you were wrong… then just shut up and let the healing begin. It makes me want to tell my friend’s ex. “You are not perfect and neither is she. We are all human. Get over it. Stop trying to prove your case and use other people. Do the human thing. Care about other people’s feelings. Have a heart!”

The act of aiming for perfection and the realization of knowing we’ll never reach it makes us human. Forgiveness and understanding is needed in all interactions between humans. No one can do the right thing every time in every situation. We are bound to screw up one time or another. I think what separates the good humans from the bad ones is how we react and overcome those mistakes.

So be the best that you can be and when you mess up… be humble and learn from it. Try not to be too hard on yourself. You are human. But remember that those around you are human too, so demand perfection from them, but be understanding when they can’t achieve it. I know I’m not perfect, but over the last few months I’ve gotten a lot closer. I’m still making some mistakes, but not as many as before and not the same ones as before.