Beautiful piece by Jason Fried. What a terrific point of view to adapt both for your own mistakes, and for those made by people around you.
No matter how much different would 2012 have looked like if you’d had this ability (reflect, don’t obsess), make a mental note for yourself to apply this to at least one of your quests in the coming year.
A mistake is a moment in time by Jason Fried of 37signals
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3347-a-mistake-is-a-moment-in-time
He said the Navajo saw mistakes as moments in time. And since you can’t change time, why try to change a mistake that already happened?
The mistake is already woven into the fabric of time. It’s good to be reminded of it when you look back.
Further, he compared it to climbing a mountain. If you climb a mountain you are sure to have a few missteps along the way. But you keep going. You don’t stop and start over if you trip here or take the wrong path there. You keep going. You can’t remove that step. It happened, it’s part of the climb. And when the climb is done, you’ve finished. As long as you made it to the top, you don’t call the climb a mistake. Likewise, the Navajo don’t call a rug with some off stiches a mistake. If the rug is finished, it’s a successful rug. More importantly, a rug with a few off stitches is an honest rug.
(via Instapaper)