Learning Curve--Part Two

You Never Know Until You Try.

Yesterday I attended a reception honoring a friend's retirement. It was much like any other such occasion, and I imagine it started most of us to thinking as we compared ourselves to the honoree and wondered what might be said at our retirement parties.

As I sat listening to "A's" coworkers and friends praise him, I couldn't help but think of the line in the 80's movie Dirty Dancing, where "Johnny" says of "Baby" that she's taught him about the kind of person he wants to be. The same is true of my friend "A." I thought back over our 20-plus years of friendship and
what it has meant to me. My mind flew back in time to our first meeting and came forward, resurrecting those years in some ways I'd rather they had not been resurrected.

When I left the reception, I had mixed feelings: gratitude for having known such an exceptional person; a little embarrassment that during our long friendship I've been, at times,a less than exceptional person; and gratitude that I'm not what I used to be. I've grown a lot since I met "A," and he gets a lot of the credit. Don't get me wrong; I liked myself when we met. I'm just a better, more mature person now. Like everyone, I've always done the best I could at a given moment, given the circumstances. Sometimes I've failed horribly; sometimes I've succeeded fabulously.

So I entitled today's post "Learning Curve-Part Two," because I hope we all will give ourselves a learning curve and not only allow ourselves to make mistakes when we're trying new things, but to allow ourselves to make mistakes, period. Don't be so hard on yourself regarding mistakes you've made--things you said or did that you wish you hadn't, or things you didn't do or say that you wish you had. Again, I stress that no one is perfect. Even "A" has regrets. He just doesn't let them ruin his day. He learns and moves on. So should we all.