#9 Accidents in Boldness

To continue on the topic of boldness, sometimes our boldness leads us to bigger mistakes. I mean, we all make mistakes anyway, but as our confidence grows, so does the magnitude of our mistakes. We get confident, try new things, and then royally botch things that we thought we could handle. Today I want to talk about those moments, and what to do with them.

Thankfully, most of us probably won’t do anything as drastic as sending a town into an uproar because a piece of the sky is hitting us on the head. But doesn’t it feel like the sky is falling? Isn’t it all too easy to fall into the belief that everything is coming to an end? I actually just had a moment like this today. I was asked to keep watch over the floors below where my team was working. My job was to warn everyone going by that stuff might fall from up top. But to go along with this, we usually have to block off the area, and I was struggling to find all the stuff to do so. I panicked and floundered around to find the stuff. I thought to myself “this person is going to yell at me if I take that. I might not be allowed to take those.” And this quickly spiraled into “shoot, I am wasting a lot of time. In that time, I have probably allowed someone to get killed by falling roof-parts because I panicked. I really need to stop panicking now!” 

Pretty crazy, right? 

Thankfully, everything turned out just fine. Nobody died and I didn’t get yelled at. But I had my “sky is falling” moment, and I want to reflect on it. First of all, it’s important to pat yourself on the back because you did something. Think about the alternative. Would it really have been better to just do nothing? Sure, your shot didn’t quite hit the mark, but would you have hit the mark if you never tried? Maybe the decision you made did some damage, but you’ll never get it right if you never try at all. 

But if some damage was done, it’s important to make sure you take part in fixing it as much as you can. I mean, you can’t really fix someone’s car if you aren’t a mechanic, so don’t be a silly-billy about this. But if you know you can effectively undo some of the damage you caused, then do so! What good is a simple little “I’m sorry,” if it isn’t backed up by actions? 

But then, it may be tempting to not get involved the next time. Maybe you will get hit in the head with another piece of the sky, and be sorely tempted to say “I just want this out of my life!” I definitely get that. But we will wind up feeling smaller and smaller if we make a habit of doing this. It will be like we are building a box to squeeze ourselves into. We aren’t meant to live in a tiny coop like chickens! We were meant to run wild and free! 

So run wild and free, accepting the fact that oopsies are a part of the process of growing in boldness. Expect those goofs to happen from time to time. If you tell yourself that mistakes will happen, then the sting will hurt a little less. And when you do mess up, take some time to feel embarrassed, but make sure that the time is limited. Remind yourself that it’s all a part of life. Feel the burn, then set a moment where you say “ok, that happened, but I’m officially putting it in the past. Today is a new day!” 

And before you know it, your boldness will be as solid as a rock! Nothing will get you down and nobody will be able to stop you. And maybe that piece of the sky that hit you on the head will actually turn out to be someone else’s mistake that just so happened to affect you! You never know! 

So I pray you learn to overcome your mistakes as you grow in boldness. May those moments be blessed with the comfort of grace, and may your courage continue to multiply by the hour!

Until next time

May Peace be your Guide.