Learn: Find out what works.

Sometimes I've said unkind things to myself.

When making a repeat mistake, often I'll shake my head and whisper to myself, "When will you ever learn?"

The truth is, mistakes are the proving ground to help us learn. We can be told some theoretical practice and believe it to be so; but it is only when we put a practice to a test can we see what needs to be done.

An example everyone can relate to is balancing your checkbook. When I got out on my own, I had a hard time learning to reconcile my account frequently. It would be the last thing on my mind until I got my statement. But mid-month, mistakes would be made, I'd utter, "When will you ever learn?"  Then, I'd pay the price and go on.

I'm a slow-learner, but nowadays, I've built into my daily routine to check my bank balance. Simple, yet effective.

Would it be fair to say that making mistakes is the best way to learn? After all, the loftiest ambition, the most noble ideas must be lived out in real life - and sometimes we find out the idea is a dud. Then we must dust ourselves off and try again. If we are wise, we will take what we have learned from our mistake and make adjustments. It might take a series of failures; but that helps us to find out what works.

Like it or not, we are lifetime learners. We might not crack open the books once we leave academia; but we are learning from our experiences. Will we be wise and make adjustments? 

I can't speak for others; but I don't want to "keep going around that same mountain until I get it right." I want to take what I've learned, implement it, and then see some new ground!

How about you? Are you kind or impatient with yourself when you've failed to learn something?

This is post #9 of my "Walk the Walk Christian Living Series." You can go here to see the links of each post as they go live.

I'm linking this post at #TellHisStory.