Have you lived long enough to know that many of the biggest lessons that you've learned in life have come from making mistakes? With a constructive attitude, you can learn from a mistake and move on. But if your attitude is, "Ohhhhh noooooo, I've made a mistake. What a miserable, worthless worm am I," then you learn NOTHING, and often you put off anything that might result in a mistake - including potentially wonderful activities and experiences.
Share with your children your story, what mistakes you made. "No matter who your favorite hero or heroine is, he/she has experienced huge mistakes and failures". And the more successful they are, the more mistakes they've made.
"According to a biography of Lincoln that I just read, before being elected president, Lincoln lost several elections, had a serious relationship end, and was hospitalized for depression. Yet he went on to become a great and popular president."
When you discuss mistakes with your young perfectionist, or hopefully with the whole family, let them know how you feel when you make a mistake. Do you fall apart and berate yourself, or do you figure out what you can learn from it and move on? If you are struggling to handle mistakes in a positive way, share your strugges with your family. Ask them,
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What are acceptable ways to handle mistakes in your family?
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What are appropriate reactions to mistakes?
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Have you, or any family member, ever learned something from making a mistake?
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Regardless of what has happened in the past, can you as a family decide to allow mistakes to happen and accept them as a NORMAL PART OF LIFE?
Once we can accept and live with our own mistakes, it is often easier to accept the mistakes of others. It mainly comes down to accepting that ALL HUMANS make mistakes; you can either become miserable over mistakes, or you can use them as a learning lesson.
What do you think? I can read your mind, i guess!
