Today’s stress is brought to you by the letter “R”
Funny how the smallest things can shape our days. Today, unfortunately, it was only a single letter. We got back some brochures from the printer today, announcing the new business I’m marketing, only to find the following headline in the text: "Reserve You Next Meeting." (Ahh, if only the letter ‘r’ had decided to join the party).
While a minor disappointment in the grade-ole scheme of things, this sets my heart to racing and stresses me out. What do we do? Send them back? Who overlooked this? (Me). What will our potential clients think? I could not believe that I’d made another mistake.
I think I’m often overly hard on myself when it comes to messing up. I take my job seriously and I invest a lot of feeling in what I’m doing. I am very proud of a job well done and I’m often distraught when I find I’ve let someone down or made a mistake.
I was watching a clip from ESPN’s Baseball Tonight at the pub this evening, showing a shortstop screwing up on a routine ground ball. He looked pretty dejected in the seconds following. That’s how I felt. But honestly, what else can I do but just keep on moving. I have to know that I will make these mistakes. He will miss ground balls again. Pitchers will hit batters in the head with the ball. Outfielders will loose the pop-up in the sunlight or run into each other. Even the best. I will probably misspell something, forget to say thank you, have a late bill payment, or get a speeding ticket. It teaches me that I’m not the only one who’s not perfect and that I’m going to make mistakes.
Is there grace for the mistake makers? Yes, I know that God will look down and say, "Get up and try again." No worries there.
Do we offer each other that same grace? Less often than we should and often much more sparingly than people need.
These mistakes are healthy, they keep me humble. And how I choose to deal with it is really what says the most about me. I’m going to keep working hard, trying to make those things happen less and less. But I’m comfortable introducing myself to someone with the disclaimer that I’ll probably let them down or forget their name or under tip them or whatever…
May I be able to offer the same Grace that is offered me and the same Patience I don’t deserve but receive.
