Bad Advice
So, this morning I learned a hard lesson. I say learned…I suppose I am in the middle of learning it. I realized that a piece of advice that I gave my child (two years ago) was not good. I shared something that I had been taught, but when I did so I did not give complete context and frankly, the premise of the advice was just wrong.
I gave the advice with pure intentions, passing along something I had been taught that seemed legit. It was not until it had come full circle and my child had put into practice the advice that I had given, that I realized the flaw in what I had taught.
What is a mama to do?
Part of me wants to run myself through the ringer. I found myself saying “What can I possibly have to say that is worthwhile?” “I just need to stop handing out any advice…” Like all the other times I berate myself, I realize intellectually what I am doing to myself, and that I just need to stop. I am not perfect, although sometimes I hold myself to an unreasonable standard.
The thing is, choosing to live an epic life does not mean living a perfect life. I will make mistakes, it is what I do with those mistakes that will determine if I have an epic life or average.
So, I am choosing epic. That means that I am choosing to learn from my mistakes and do my best to not repeat them. That isn’t going to happen passively. It is a choice and one that I need to make every day. The next time that I am faced with a situation like this (or the one I did two years ago, that just reared its ugly head) I am going to remember today and say something…different. Wiser. I am going to seek advice from those who are wiser than myself and use a filter before I blurt anything out. That’s my plan. However, just in case I drop the ball (because that will happen again at some point), I am going to try to be more forgiving of myself.
I’ll leave with some parting words from my beloved when I was beating myself up. He said, “We will do our best as parents, and bathe our efforts in prayer and Bible study”. Sounds like an epic plan to me.