Everyone of us want to be perfect in everything we do. We sometimes wonder as to why the world is imperfect around us. We believe we are perfect and everyone around us is not.

This may not be true. We have to realise sooner than later that the world is imperfect and so are we. Nobody can be perfect, all the time. We are human and it is natural for us to make mistakes. It is perfectly fine to err but as someone said – “ To err is human, to forgive divine”

The day we understand that we are as imperfect as the world around us, we may become more human. We need to accept the imperfections in others and also the same in us. All of us make mistakes and so do we. As long as we accept our mistakes, seek forgiveness and move on, life will be better always.

While this may be easier said than done, it may be worthwhile to reflect on the same and understand on how to deal with these imperfections. The best of sportspersons practice day in and night out, to perfect their game. However in spite of all this practise, they do err and are ever willing to learn from their mistakes and improve ,in their next game.

Life is no different. As children ,we make mistakes and we have our parents and teachers to guide us and show the mirror. We learn from them and become better human beings, as we grow in life. At the workplace, we have our seniors, who guide us and mentor us to evolve as better employees.

My life lessons teach me that there are three things, which could help us deal with the imperfections of life. First is acceptance, second is learning from our mistakes and the third is forgiveness.

If we are willing to accept our mistakes, that would be the very first step. Generally, we are in a state of denial and keep floating in that state till we hit a roadblock ,in life or our career. We may hesitatingly accept our mistake only when such an incident happens in our lives.

The second quality one needs to develop ,is learning from our mistakes. Like someone beautifully said that making mistakes is fine ,but not learning from them could be disastrous. We need to learn from our mistakes and ensure we do not knowingly repeat them.

The third and the most important quality is “ forgiveness”. We need to learn to forgive ourselves and others in life. If we continue to regret a mistake for the rest of our lives and not be willing to learn from it ,and forgive ourselves or others for their errors, life could become treacherous.

The day we are willing to accept our mistakes, learn from them and forgive self and others for the same, life would turn more positive and energising for us.

Let us attempt to start from today. We can first forgive ourselves and erase the memories of the multiple mistakes we may have done in our lives. Then let us try to forgive ,all the near and dear ones around us, who may have erred like us.

Let us start from today.

S Ramesh Shankar

5th Jan 2024