The Big Mistake - A Story About Accepting Blame

I made a big mistake at a job once.

I was working a contract job working as the technology manager to help run an election. The specifics of the mistake that I made aren't important, but it could have cost taxpayers thousands of dollars. All because I checked off the wrong checkbox on a computer program.

I had a long, nervous night and next morning as I waited to see what ramifications my mistake would have. It was a simple, silly mistake. A mistake I shouldn't have made. I should have double and triple checked that checkbox.

The first thoughts that came to my head were:

It wasn't my mistake
I was given the wrong information
How can I deny any wrongdoing?

There can be no mistaking that those thoughts are wrong. It doesn't matter what the reason for the mistake. In the end, it was my responsibility to make sure it was correct. I should have checked it over again and had someone else check it as well for verification. In other words, the error was mine and mine alone.

It's human nature to not believe that a mistake could be ours. The first instinct is to believe that we did what we should have done and pass the blame on to someone else. Step 2 is to realize it was our mistake but to come up with an excuse for it. I'm tired. My computer crashed. Finally, we tend to apologize and fall on our sword. not because that's the right thing to do but because we have run out of ways to deflect and deny our error.

It's the same in work situations, relationships, and parenting. We don't want to believe that the reason our relationship fell apart was our fault. We deflect and evade. We throw is back on the other party. We finally realize that it was us and we apologize and vow to do better. By then it's often too late.

It came to me the night of my big mistake at work that I had to accept responsibility and move on. In the end, the problem was resolved with little damage. I haven't been so fortunate in my relationship mistakes. The end game is the same in both cases. I made mistakes and have to acknowledge them. I have to take the mistakes that I have made, process them, own up to them, and not make them again.

I went through all of those stages while deep down knowing that at the end of the day it rested on me. It would have been easier to admit that from the beginning. For every mistake that I have made, and every person my mistakes affected, especially the people that I love, I take responsibility for the mistakes that I have made.

Admitting our faults is what gives us the opportunity to become better.

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I am Scott. I love writing poetry and song lyrics and sometimes I write about life. Please upvote and follow. I always follow back. :)

Thanks to Pixabay for the images.

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