This I Believe

I believe that mistakes are for the better

My first figure skating competition I ever did I got second place; I was well pleased, but at the same time wondered why I got only second, then I remembered I had fallen. Realizing I had to try again for next competition, discouraged me knowing, that I could get second again. That was when I told myself when I mess up I am really improving myself. I believe that messing up is really building up.

Realizing this I told myself that doing my same-ol’-same-ol’ jumps repeatedly will not be rewarding in the end. When I mess up this shows I am improving because I am going for a harder skill. Once I go for something additionally hard, I should not be able to do it exactly right the first time. If I am able to do it right the first time, I am then showing myself that I could have been doing harder things all along.

When I fell preparing for my next competition, I demonstrated to myself that I have been pushing myself to the limit. If I only limit myself to easy jumps or spins so that I do not fall or make mistakes, I slow myself down from my final destination or head me in the wrong destination. I have been told, “When you are striving for a goal make sure you put your ladder on the right wall,” (Mr. Pierce, a lawyer). Putting my ladder on the right wall should mean that if I want to learn double jumps and more complicated spins for the next competition, then I need to put my ladder on that wall of achievement and not on the wall of discouragement. If I place my ladder on the wrong wall the wall of “no try”, the closer I put myself in the wrong destination, or just place myself in second again.

Therefore, the more mistakes I make, the more I know that I am trying to improve; but that does not mean that I should purposely go out and make mistakes for competition. Making mistakes on purpose is like putting my ladder on the wrong wall, and not helping me improve. It is like tricking me that I am improving or am going to win, although I am not really. Mistakes can be to my advantage if I use them in the right way. These kind of accidental mess-ups are normal and most often for the best. Everyone makes mistakes and we should learn from them, move on, and improve on them.

Following my own advice got me first place in my second competition. I believe that I will make mistakes, but I also believe these mistakes can be to my benefit if I try to learn from them. The more I mess up, the more I learn how to not mess- up, but at the same time, the process of new mistakes starts over. This I believe.