How do you know when you just made a mistake, said something wrong, or accidently stepped into a pile of poo? This is my “Oh Crap” face and I’m sure yours is similar. Let’s be honest we all step in it every now and then but what’s important is the way in which we deal with it.
So, what do you do when you step in poo? Well there are choices. You can get angry and spew expletives all over the place while trying to figure out how to quickly remove it from your shoe. You can quickly and quietly try to rinse it off go on about your day as if nothing happened. Or you can do nothing and let the smell remind you of the incident every time you take a breath. The same thing happens when you had one of those moments of misjudgment or spoke some inappropriate words and it just sucks. If you don’t deal with it, you are allowing it to effect you until you do.
That’s no way to live a joyful positive life, walking around with poo on you because then other people will smell it too. When you don’t deal with your mistake and try to pretend it didn’t happen, it effects your attitude. So, don’t let one mistake, or misstep, take you out of alignment.
How?
1. Forgive yourself for being careless. Getting angry at yourself will put you in a mindset that can only be fueled by more angry thoughts and words and more mistakes. It’s like you created a self-fulfilling prophesy. You usually step in poo when you are having a weak moment, or when you’re walking and texting and not paying attention to where you are stepping. I remember saying something to my husband a few weeks ago that hurt his feelings and I didn’t even know I said. After thinking about it I realized that the words that came out of my mouth were a result of my being tired and distracted by something else pressing on my mind.
#2. Realize you are not perfect anyway. Everyone steps in poo, right? Well, yes but don’t allow yourself to use that as an excuse to justify your behavior. But also, don’t allow your thoughts of not being perfect take you inward and start to create this blame game. We can so easily fall into one camp or the other and when we do, we eliminate an opportunity for positive personal growth.
#3. Admitting you were wrong and apologizing for it will eliminate that awful smell fast! Self-reflection can take some effort but taking responsibility for something that may seem small can quickly add up to increased integrity. The road to character requires that you take one step at a time, no matter how big or how small.
#4. Breathe! Now that the poo is gone you can reflect on the situation and feel better about your mistake. You did the right thing and took the right steps to repair the damage and remember, when you example self-forgiveness and apologize to the one you hurt, you set an example to others that when stepping in poo you could very well come out smelling like roses.