It dawned on me one morning…
I was probably a mistake.
This epiphany was triggered by a statement my mother had made the previous day when she drove us around a local university. Pointing to a dormitory building, she announced;
“you were conceived in that building.”
A slip on her part to be sure, highlighted through an almost immediate response as she subtly winced;
“don’t ask what ‘conceived’ means.”
So I looked it up when we got home, a new word learnt.
But I couldn’t help connecting the dots from there.
I obviously knew that the university was a school, I also knew that my mother fell pregnant with me whilst in school. Then I remembered my parents celebrating an anniversary a month before that day, a few months before my birthday. So I, knowing where their important documents where kept, found their marriage certificate. It told me they were legally married only 5 months before I was born.
Funny thing is, it was only then that I remembered something I hadn’t forgotten per se.
I remembered attending my parent’s white wedding! At this point it was clear to me that I wasn’t planned, I just kind of happened. That didn’t suggest to me that I was the only reason my parent’s got married, back then they seemed to be blissfully in love with one another nearly a decade after my birth but; I probably did fast-track the decision for them.
A few days later… a subsequent epiphany hit me.
Some mistakes are made out of love and others grow to be loved.
So why should I be afraid to make mistakes? Yes, some mistakes can and do have dire consequences. Yes, some mistakes can even leave an ugly scar on one’s heart. But mistakes can also be beautiful! A beautiful part of life that can lead to experience gained, knowledge learnt, wisdom attained and growth provoked.
It’s okay to make mistakes, just as long as you learn from them. Remember that life is too short to keep making the same mistakes. Make new mistakes and the possibilities are endless!
