Amid our busy lives, I believe that we often forget to breathe. We forget to exhale doubt and worry and instead inhale confidence and courage. As we are stumbling around, trying to navigate this crazy adventure called life, we often skip the most crucial step when it comes to growing ourselves deeper in a personal and spiritual way. Instead of turning around and observing the roots we tripped on and why we stumbled on them in the first place, we often breeze on by, caught up in our own deafening thoughts and others opinions and views. Those mistakes and problems we either previously solved or swept under the rug are left in the dust, to never be considered or closely examined.

Taking a step back and observing, I have come to realize that this is a problem that I personally struggle with more than I would like to admit. I so often mess up or trip on a root, but never look back to ponder the question of why it happened in the first place. My most frequented mistake is when I acknowledge the problem or mistake at hand, then proceed to shrug it off and keep on trekking along the trail. This is specifically my first mistake. I frequently forget to grow, in its simplest form. I forget that sometimes I need to backtrack in order to move forward.

At first thought, this idea may seem confusing. You may ask, “how can you move forward if you are looking backward?” This is not what I mean, you cannot climb up a mountain backward. Instead, I have begun to practice backtracking to my mistakes. Once I am there, I try to understand what caused me to make that mistake in the first place. Next, I question what I can do next time to prevent it from happening again. Once I have figured this out, I keep on moving, eyes focused on what is ahead.

Trust me, I know this is not easy. Often you repeat mistakes over and over again. I am a perfect example. I trip over a small rock then proceed to keep walking, taking the easy way out by shrugging the problem off and potentially labeling it as “not a big deal”. This doesn’t do me any good; it only leads me to completely fall on my hands and face over a big branch in the ground while trekking the trail ahead of me. I have never had the true spirit of wanting to fully and completely learn from myself. It is a hard pill to swallow. Of course, when you continue to repeat a mistake, they are not mistakes anymore; they become a choice. They become the choice to deliberately not learn from your past shortcomings. Therefore, I have learned that it is crucial to learn from your mistakes, to steer away from the pain and hurt that you can potentially cause yourself and others. Let me tell you from experience, this is no fun at all and I am sure we all know the feeling.

All in all, I believe that it is important to grow from our short-comings and mistakes. This is something I know that I need to take more into consideration. I need to learn that even when life gets busy, the priorities stay the same. Even when things seem like a whirlwind, I need to take a step back, evaluate the situation, and act accordingly. I need to be patient when climbing this mountain of life. In times like these, I am always reminded of the quote, “the pessimist looks down and hits his head, the optimist looks up and loses his footing, but the realist looks forward and adjusts his path accordingly.”