Don't repeat the same mistake....

We all make mistakes, don't we? Afterall, to err is human. Some mistakes are insignificant, but some are damaging and may even be fatal. Perhaps, the single most important reason for learning History in school is for us to learn from history and not to repeat the same mistake.

Have we frequently been doing the wrong thing and saying the wrong words and hence straining and even jeopardising our relationships with our family members, friends and colleagues? I think it is important to be aware of the mistakes we have made through self-reflection and self-examination at the close of the each day. Once we are aware of the mistakes, we have to make a conscious and conscientious effort to ensure that we don't repeat the same mistake.

Frankly, as we start our soul-searching, we might just realise that there is a long list of things that we have repeatedly done wrong, and the list might include things like how often we are late for our appointments, how much we have overspent every month, how many items we have at home that have become white elephants, how many times we have made the same typographical errors in the monthly report we submit to our superior, how often we have missed out certain important sections of our study notes and ended up not being able to answer questions in examinations? More often than not, these same mistakes keep recurring. Obviously, we have not learnt from our mistakes time and again.

So, let's start doing something positive about it, catch the mistake in time, learn from it and make sure we don't repeat the same mistake. Sometimes, we might be fortunate enough to be given a second chance, but sometimes, we might not. We certainly don't expect the dentist to extract the wrong tooth. The consequence of the mistake is simply irreversible. Think about it.