Making mistakes

As I went through my email inbox last night, I discovered a message from a website client that had somehow slipped by me. I had clearly opened it, but I don’t remember having read it. It was a time-sensitive email that needed to be acted upon before Memorial Day weekend and by the time I opened it yesterday, it was far too late.  It’s a big bad boo-boo.  I don’t like making those.

But here’s the thing – I didn’t berate myself. I felt bad for having done it, but I didn’t feel like I was a bad person for having done it. It’s a distinction that Ken Kizer (geez, have I mentioned him much lately?) has made several times in our conversations – if you think that you’ve done bad, that can be fixed; if you believe that you are bad, that requires internal and/or external punishment.

I made a mistake.  I contacted the client and apologized.  I told her that I was doing the next piece of work that she’d sent me without charge in acknowledgment of the error.  And I went on with my day.

Am I bummed that I let a client down? Absolutely.  Did I let it ruin my day?  No.

New behavior. That’s a big ol’ miracle in my book.  🙂

And the season opener for So You Think You Can Dance was finally posted on Hulu today. I just discovered this show mid-season last year and I fell in love with little Lauren Froderman. I’m so excited to watch this season from the beginning!