How fascinating!

Do you ever make a mistake then obsess about how dumb it was?  

You know, like send a text to your mother-in-law that you meant to send to a friend?  

Forget to attach the doc you referenced in an email?  

Check out for groceries & realize you forgot your wallet at home?  How about something more serious?  

You took a new job, & now you hate it?  

If you're human, I'm guessing you answered yes.  And if you're not a human, I'm fascinated that you can read, & I want to know more.

One day I needed to get out of the house & decided to go to the grocery store.  I also “needed” some ice cream & stopped at the coffee/ice cream shop near us.  

As my PB fudge ice cream cone sat in the snazzy little cone holder on the counter, awaiting my payment, I dug through my gigantic bag for my wallet...which wasn’t there.

Damn.  Not sure which was more upsetting...the fact that my ice cream was getting closer to dripping by the second or just the overall feeling of dumbassness.

I called Matt’s cell to get a credit card number.  No answer.

So I called our landline.  Yes, we still have one because the chance of the boys finding a charged cell phone in an emergency is about 2%.  

As expected, no one answered because no one calls our land line except telemarketers & campaigns (which, for the love of all that is holy, finally stopped in November)...So we’ve instructed the boys to never answer the landline.

Ummmm...Except when Mom forgets her wallet?  Had failed to mention that exception.

“Hello???  Helloooooo!  It’s Mom!  Please answer the phone!”

Miles picked up.  “Mommy?”

“Hey, buddy.  Can you give the phone to your dad?”

“He just went outside.”

“Ok.  I have a very important job for you.  Can you please get my wallet off my desk, find my blue debit card & read me the number on it?”

“Why don’t you have your wallet?”

“Because I forgot it.”

“Where are you?”

“Ummm...I’m at the coffee shop.”

“I thought you were going to the grocery store.”

“Yep, just made a quick stop at the coffee shop.  Needed some...Ummm...Just decided to stop here.”

Then he read me all the numbers, even the one on the back, I paid for my ice cream & ate it as I drove home for my forgotten wallet.  

So I could go to my actual destination, the grocery store.

It all worked out.  And I managed to finish my ice cream before the boys managed to realize the actual reason for my stop...without them.

But in the few moments it took for someone to answer the phone, the statement that looped through my mind was, “How fascinating.” 

Years ago, one of my favorite college instructors suggested we use this statement in such situations, & I still do today.

It helps separate ourselves from our mistakes.  

WE are not our mistakes.  

Mistakes are simply results that allow us to learn & make different decisions.

And they are fascinating, aren’t they?

How could I possibly leave the house without my wallet?  I’ve left the house a million times WITH my wallet.  

Fascinating.

What fascinating mistakes have you made?  

What did you learn from it?

In most cases, you were likely able to figure it & make a change as a result.  Right?

Make some mistakes.  It’s far more educational & entertaining than not making any & staying where you are. 🙂