How many times have you said “had I known…?” For many people in my part of the world, this is a familiar saying after having made a mistake. Making a mistake is a trait common to all men and one which we should embrace without embarrassment.

I realised mistakes are nature’s way of telling us that we are not making the right choices, as well as a means with which to teach us a lesson about life. Should we fail to learn the lesson at the point of committing the first mistake, nature will ensure that we commit it repeatedly until we finally get the point.

So whenever we make a mistake we should ask ourselves, “what lesson is life trying to teach me?” Usually the answer will leads us to say “had I known!” Indeed, mistakes make us wiser than we were before and leave us better prepared for the challenges that lie ahead of us.

However, our school system has made us believe that mistakes are wrong. How? Well, remember those days in primary school when we used to take daily class test of ten questions? The person who made nine mistakes got a mark of 1/10 with a remark of “Poor”, while the person who made one mistake had a mark of 9/10 with a remark of “Excellent”. I am not against the marking system, but only the psychological effect of the remarks. Instead of “Poor”, would it not have sounded more encouraging to use “Try again”?

“Try Again” this should be our life’s mantra, a motivator that propels us towards excellence, a motivator that enshrines in us the desire for brilliance and distinction. So, as we go about our lives and commit mistakes, may we use drivers such as “Try again” and “I can do better” not only for ourselves but for others as well, to encourage ourselves and the people around us to move ever closer to excellence.

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