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On Making Mistakes, Forgiveness, and the Difference
                        Between an Excuse and a Reason

            People  make  mistakes.  It  happens  all  the  time  and  it  is
            simply an aspect of human frailty. We are not perfect. But
            what happens after the mistake is made? How many of us,
            people  and  institutions  alike,  run  and  hide  and  make
            meaningless  excuses, create cover-ups, try to  "save  face",
            and refuse to be accountable? As we all know, this happens
            all  the  time,  but  why?  Why  is  it  so  difficult  to  own  up,
            make retribution, and move on?

            It most likely starts, as many thing do, in childhood. People
            brought up in a home in which every mistake is met with
            immediate punishment and humiliation quickly learn that if
            you can somehow show that the mistake was not yours, you
            are  in  much  better  shape  than  otherwise.  The  human
            tragedy in all of this is the fact that mistakes should really
            be opportunities for learning, growth, and enlightenment. If
            you never admit to a mistake, there is precious little chance
            of  you or anyone else  learning and benefiting  from  it. So
            people  often  get  very  good  at  dodging  and  denying  their
            culpability  and  this  carries  on  into their  adult  life,  where
            they often find others who are similarly inspired.

            This  of  course,  is  not  a  good  thing,  and  only  suppresses
            spiritual growth and enlightenment. In addition it cements
            long-term  resentment  between  people  and  institutions.
            Parents need to understand that their children are invariably
            going to err, and when they do they need to take some time,
            sit  down,  communicate,  and  lovingly  work  out  how  the
            mistake  might  not  be  repeated  in  the  future  instead  of
            instant punishment and humiliation. In this way, the child
            learns that making mistakes is something that is relatively
            normal,  and  admitting  to  them  will  only  bring  on  an



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