Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter

Mistakes

I hate to make mistakes. I know, nobody likes to make mistakes, but I really hate it. Ask my husband. I work really hard to avoid it, and I’m probably overly cautious as a result. But here’s the thing: Everyone makes mistakes, and the best way to cope with them is to acknowledge them and move on.

For example, I bought a pair of Bass Sunjuns two years ago because they looked like they would be a good solution for my aching feet. I hardly had a chance to take them out of the box before my friend the myofascial therapist told me that I should never, ever wear thong sandals, because they were bad for my particular feet.

So, I tried to sell them. No luck. I tried a different website. Nothing. It bothers me to give barely worn, in-the-box shoes to the thrift store, and yet, if I were my own client, I would tell me, “Your space is valuable too. Yes, it is $80 wasted, and that’s painful, but you have food, you have shelter, you have plenty of other shoes. If you just let go, you’d have more space and more peace.”

I frequently see all the things my clients know they never should have bought in the first place: books they’ll never read, fancy kitchen gadgets they’ll never use and oh-so-many clothes. There’s an urge to tell yourself you will read the book, or sell the skirt, and then your mistake will be rectified, like it never happened. But if you’re forcing yourself to read a book you don’t really want to read, or spending time trying to sell something you never should have bought, stop compounding the error by working to “fix” it. Just admit you’ve made a mistake and move on.

No self-flagellation, just acknowledge and move on. Easy, right?

We’re human. We make mistakes. It doesn’t mean you have to live with them. You are never going to wear that skirt, you are never going to make pasta from scratch, and I am never going to wear those sandals. I’m going to put them in the donation bin right now.