What will they think of me?

"A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing." George Bernard Shaw

Many of us have been so brainwashed by worrying what people will think that we're willing to remain in a state of misery rather than admit we've been going about something the wrong way.

We're afraid of being found out, of showing bad judgement, of being percieved as inept. We are like the nearsighted girl who was invited to dinner by her boyfriend's parents. She mistook a bowl of heavily cinnamoned applesauce for brown gravy and ladled it on her mashed potatoes. "Do you like applesauce on you potatoes dear?" asked the boy's mother. "Oh, yes," she replied, "I always eat them this way," and then proceeded to finish every bite, afraid they would think she had made a mistake.

People who are late for appointments hate to admit that their own planning was to blame. So they use excuses, such as traffic problems, long-distance phone calls or minor emergencies to explain their tardiness.

Admission comes as a painful step for us because we feel shame and guilt for having been so far off course. It is, however, a liberating step. It opens the door to new possibilities and a much more comfortable existence.

At this point it's good to remember that, if our life isn't working for us, it isn't for lack of trying. It's simply that we haven't yet found the formula that makes it work.

Today's step: In admitting my mistakes, I find the freedom to grow.