Making mistakes is something that sadly comes very easy to me.  I do not discriminate, though. I have made mistakes in all parts of my life – friends, family, school, etc.  Usually my mistakes focus on me saying something I should not have said. My parents told me that I started talking when I was very young, and I have never stopped.  The positive part of that characteristic is that I am considered a friendly person who can talk easily to anyone. The negative side of being a talkative person is that sometimes I talk when I should be doing more listening.  My mom reminds me of past parent-teacher conferences when she has received the same feedback. It is a family joke that I was called ‘the mouth of the south” when I was little. I would just talk and talk and wear out my family.  They always wanted me to play the Quiet Game, but that did not sound like any fun. My intentions when I was younger and today not to be disrespectful or rude, but sometimes I have a difficult time keeping my mouth shut and interrupting when others are talking.  All actions are going to have consequences, and I am no different. My mouth has gotten me in trouble in the past, and unfortunately, I am sure I will make many more mistakes before I am an adult.

As I grow up and mature, I have learned from my mistakes.  My goal is that I do not make the same mistake twice. The difference now is that I do know what I am doing is wrong.  As a teenage girl, I am stubborn and rude at times. Another example of my issue with keeping quiet has been that I have shared someone else’s private information with the wrong person.  Even though that person promised to keep it a secret, they had the same issue I do and told others. It was not right for them to share the information I told them, but I should not have told them in the first place.  That is a tough lesson to learn as a teenager and one I need to still figure out. I know that I am always going to make mistakes, but I try not to do it over again. Mistakes not only hurt me, but also others around me.  In this case, my mistake almost cost me a friendship with someone that I have been close with for many years. Repeating mistakes does not make me a bad person, it just means that I am honest with myself that I have more work to do in this area.  

It is important to remember that no one is perfect, nor would I ever want to be.  My friends and family appreciate that I am working on this part of myself and recognize when I do better (and worse).  We have a saying in my family that we love each other through our mistakes. That is not always easy because words hurt and mistakes ruin relationships, but we all try.  I have had to apologize a lot for these mistakes in the past and have asked those people I love most to forgive me and give me another chance. I had a teacher in third grade who celebrated our mistakes as a class.  She always said that making mistakes gives you a chance to learn and improve. If you did not make a mistake then you would not know how to handle a difficult situation, nor give yourself the chance to better yourself each day.  She did the opposite of what you would think a teacher would do when one of their students made a mistake. She gave us a gold star on our daily performance sheet when you made a mistake and admitted it was wrong. I had a lot of gold stars by the end of the year.  I have tried to take the same approach and thank myself for making mistakes every day. When I have said that to friends, they did not always understand why I would celebrate mistakes. They thought mistakes were a weakness instead of a strength. After I explained how I thought of mistakes, they understood and some even started thinking about it the same way.  Mistakes have made me the person I am today, and I like that person. I am not perfect and have a lot of growing up to do, but I will be a better person tomorrow because of the mistakes I have made today.