Everybody makes mistakes...everyone has those days

One of the things that is inescapable to all human kind is the ability to screw up.  can i get an amen?  i have, at times, made it my main objective to perfect the craft of mistake making. so for that experience, i feel i have the authority to speak on the subject.

this morning i was presented with an opportunity to help make a bad situation a little better.  it was outside of my control to completely fix it, but i could have definitely improved things.  instead, i took the path of least resistance and decided to kick said help seeker while they were down.  hmmm....as i write those words, it becomes crystal clear that i did not choose wisely.  the point is...i could have helped, but i didn't.  for whatever reason...inconvenience to me, frustration with the situation, the self-righteous thought that "i didn't create this mess...it's not my problem"....whatever.

the question is not whether or not i should have helped....obviously i should have.  my thought today is now that i have messed up...what do i do?  as i was driving to work i kept running the situation through my head...what i could have said or done differently.  how things would be the next time i saw them.  if i accurately detected that note in their voice that they actually wanted to punch me in the face through the phone.  it was in that moment moment that i realized that the best thing i could do now, was just to call back and apologize.  it went something like this....

"hey...i'm really sorry.  i had an opportunity to make things better, and instead i made them worse.  i apologize."

and you know what...it was all ok after that.

so, the moral of the story is, if you make a mistake, don't make it worse by hiding from it or justifying your actions.  just apologize.  sincerely say that you're sorry and put a period on your mistake.  don't let it go one for hours or days or weeks.  do it now.  my two cents.  have a great day!