Here’s Why Our Mistakes Actually Do Define Us (And Why It’s A Good Thing)

I’m guessing you made a mistake. Something that still lingers in your mind. I know you wish you could take it back. Pretend like it never happened. Control+Alt+Delete, if you could. But you know what? It doesn’t work that way. Life isn’t like an app that you can just close and reboot at any time you want. Life’s like a clock that’s only meant to keep moving forward.

Time and time again, we’re told that our mistakes don’t define us. But I’m telling you differently. You aren’t your mistakes, but in a way, our mistakes do define us. It’s because mistakes are a part of the experience of life. Mistakes are perfectly normal. They define us because of the impact they leave with us. It’s not the mistake we made, but what we get from that mistake. If we can’t make up for the mistake we made, we’re at least supposed to learn from it.

“I have not failed 1,000 times to make a light bulb. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways not to make a light bulb.” – Thomas Edison

Our mistakes take us to where we need to be. They were meant to happen, and mistakes will happen again and again. Just look back and be thankful for the lessons you learned because of them — they gave you character and molded you to become a better person.

So every time you mess up, think if you could do something to make things right. If you can’t, just move on and learn from it. Trust that you will do better because you are better. Always remember that our mistakes in life are L’s — lessons to be learned, not loses.

Live life, make mistakes, grow and learn.

Remind yourself that no matter what you did wrong, you still have the capability to learn and be better than you were before.