Can We Say “Goofed”?

Can We Say “Goofed”?

Easter 5

 

The actor Gale Gordon spent a great many hours on stage and the screen with actress Lucille Ball.  The actress had been told she could not act and encouraged to seek another career but she held fast to her dreams.  Gordon remembered her tenacity this way:  “Lucille didn’t care about messing herself up.  A lot of stars of her stature wouldn’t do physical comedy because they were afraid they’d get their hair messed up of they’d look bad.  I remember once she fell into a vat of green dye.  She came out with not only her hair green but everything was green!”

 

Fear of failure often detracts us from being mindful of the moment.  Every failure is a lesson if we would but look at it that way.  Wayne Dyer speaks to this.  “Life is all about learning and one of the most memorable ways of learning something is by messing up.”

 

Being mindful means being aware and that includes being able to admit when we make a mistake.  As far as I know, no one ever died from admitting they goofed.  To be certain, some mistakes can result in death and such a tragic consequence is a lesson we all need to remember. 

 

What about the everyday mistakes we make?  We need to acknowledge our shortcomings, learn from them, and then grow from them.  Life is too short to wallow in self-pity or bemoan being human.  Life is too precious not to make it be the very best we possibly can.

 

Ralph Waldo Emerson has a great approach regarding the subject of our inevitable messing up and goofs.  “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

 

Tonight I will go to bed giving thanks for the day I lived.  It will have included some goofs but also some smiles, some tears but also opportunity for joy, some escaped opportunity but also a chance to learn.  Hopefully, you will also be mindful of the entirety of your day and be thankful for the chance to have lived it.