Admit a Mistake and Reclaim the Passions of Your Heart

“I do not at all understand the mystery of grace – only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.”

Admitting a Mistake Will Transform Your Life

How far will you drive before you admit a mistake and must turn around?

How I Enjoyed the Day After Admitting My Own Mistake

This morning, I took my 2 sons blackberry picking. They were extremely psyched to go. They are always excited to go anywhere. I could say, “Hey, lets go sit in a cardboard box for 3 days straight and they would shout for joy and say I am the most awesome daddy in the world.

Kids just enjoy experiencing every aspect of life you can give.

We have went blueberry picking the past couple of years, but this was the first time for blackberries. I was informed that I actually missed the season for the blueberries which was a bummer so I decided I’d try blackberries this year. It was a new experience, and also a new farm.

I had no idea where it was located.

I planned to meet with my friend. She went the previous weekend and knew the route quite well. She always knows the route and is always prepared. I would be more jealous of her if it wasn’t for the fact I have grown to depend on her for my sanity. A smart man would’ve asked her for the directions and written them down.

People have accused me of many labels but smart man is not a popular one.

Instead of paying attention to my friend’s directions, I nodded my head and acted in my cool, nonchalant way. I pretended that I completely knew how to get there and I daydreamed about what song I was going to sing on my American Idol audition.

I knew there was a left turn at a light and some other road that I’d see.

The boys and I started driving down the highway. We entered dense woods and I figured that the road will approach us soon. I kept an eye out for the road where I needed to turn, but mostly focused on singing a family chorus of “Jingle bells, batman smells. Robin laid an egg…”

Yes, I am a single father with 2 sons. What song would you expect us to sing?

20 or so miles past and I started to wonder, “Did I miss the road? Should I turn around?” I decided against it. When all else fails, the best decision is always to go straight. Eventually, you will end up where you want or China. Either way, you know what you must do next.

“Welcome to Alachua County”

All of a sudden, I saw a large green sign that read, “Welcome to Alachua County.” Alachua County sits next to my own and is 30 miles past my destination. I pulled over to the side of the road and quickly turned the other way. I called my friend and said, “I think I am lost. Where was I supposed to turn?”

The boys asked why did I turn around and I told them that daddy got lost. They looked at each other and giggled, “Silly daddy, he always gets lost.”

I finally got us to the blackberry farm where we met up with my friend and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, but the experience led me to think about the truth of our stubbornness as a people. We alway continue down our own way no matter what God whispers in our heart until there is a big green sign that smacks us in the head and reads, “Hey, idiot. turn around. You missed your turn 20 miles the other way.”

In Order to Succeed You Must Know When to Turn Around and Admit Your Mistakes

In what ways are you continuing to drive straight in life when you were supposed to turn a hundred miles back?

Ask any Blogger and she will tell you that Seth Godin is king. Ask any marketer and he will tell you that Seth Godin is their hero. Seth Godin is to Marketing as Oprah is to women. His word is golden, literally. He sells millions of copies with every single book that he writes.

The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick)
is one of his shortest yet most profound and popular books. In it, he discusses that sometimes we must quit in order to succeed. There will come a time in every endeavor in life that struggles will come and we will feel lost.

Do we persist and stick to the course? Seth says that we should quit.

We are taught at a young age that we must stay on track and never falter. We adhere to the cliche, “Winners never quit”. You will only achieve success and wealth when you ignore everyone else and stick to what is in front of you.

You admit to making a mistake the minute you quit or turn around.

The Illusion that Pride Fools You Into Believing About Your Mistakes

Pride sits inside the dark parts of our hearts and pulls to take control of it all. Pride tells us that we must never admit to making a mistake. We must never let anyone know we are lost. We must never turn around. We must never say I am sorry.

We must always believe that straight is always right.

While pride tries to fool you into believing that it has the secrets to personal wealth and success, it does not. It has ulterior motives. Pride wants to push everyone out of your life. Pride wants to get you completely alone in the dark so that it can feed off the energy that pours from your spirit.

Pride is a leech and an idiot.

The Most Influential People Have Owned Up to Their Mistakes

You must admit mistakes and you must turn around if you want to fully live the passions that God has placed inside of your heart. Michael Jordan stunk at professional baseball before returning to basketball in route to become one of the most prolific players in all of sports. Abraham Lincoln was a horrible businessman. He failed and bankrupt every time he opened shop before he realized his true calling of becoming one of America’s most important presidents.

I could not have enjoyed the delicious blackberry pie my sister made without admitting my own mistake and turning the car around.

One of the most beautiful and difficult aspects of the Christian faith is that we must give up on trying to reach heaven ourselves. We try for a perfect life. We work hard to find success and personal fulfillment, but we continue to make mistakes at every possible opportunity.

Such is life.

Pride and Mistakes that You Don’t Admit Will Control Your Life

The prophet Jeremiah wrote as a cry to the Israel people, “they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward.” He was begging them to take a moment to stop and look at their hearts. He wanted them to know that they would fall into destruction if they continued down the path.

All they had to do was stop, admit their mistakes and turn around.

Mistakes take control of our lives when we don’t own up to them. We make personal justifications that are pure crazy in order to fuse them into our lives. Once they become so engrained and justified, the mistakes create a monster whom enslaves our passions and leads us to a road of destructive bitterness.

The other day, I overheard a conversation with a homeless man. He was an intriguing fellow and was blind. I was sitting outside in the warm Florida sunshine drinking my $3 cup of coffee waiting to hear from a friend via my Google Android powered smartphone.

To clear things up, the blind homeless man wasn’t begging for any money. He only wanted to talk with someone. He started talking with the large, overweight, retired and seemingly successful man next to me. He told the large bald man, “Want to hear a funny story? I was robbed at knifepoint last night and got my cellphone stolen. There’s southern hospitality for you.”

The large man looked up from his newspaper and smiled then ignored the crazy blind bum for the next couple of minutes while munching on a delicious banana creme pastry.

After being ignored and going off about southern hospitality, this blind bum went to his next victim – a smiling young mom whose 4 year old was running around like a tornado. She responded differently and actually had a conversation with him. They talked about being robbed at knifepoint, ladies of the night, and southern hospitality.

An half hour past and he went inside the coffee shop. He went and purchased 2 frozen coffee drinks and an apple pie. He gave the woman 1 of the coffees and the apple pie.

I glanced over at my overweight friend with banana creme crumbs on his chin whom looked longingly at that warm apple pie.

Admit Your Mistakes and Reclaim the Freedom to Fulfill the Passions in Your Heart

When we learn how to admit our mistakes, we reclaim control of the direction of our lives. We receive the opportunity to turn around and continue down the journey to fulfill our passions. We are no longer wandering aimlessly down a road completely lost without a clue.

I encourage you to own up to your mistakes and turn around so that you can live fully the life of purpose that God desires for you. Don’t allow mistakes and pride control your life. God has a beautiful meaning for your life, but you must forget your pride and change course.

The writer of Lamentations says that God’s compassion and love never fails. They are renewed for us every morning. God will still provide your life with meaning and purpose no matter what stage of life you are at and what mistakes that you have made.

God can still paint your life of broken glass, dried up paint and trashed canvas into a work of art that would make Picasso cry.