Mistakes are Made

I don't like making mistakes.  Does anyone?  Mistakes--from burning the garlic bread under the broiler to offering someone a job that doesn't exist--upset me, pretty much equally it seems.  I used to pride myself on my organizational abilities.  I could keep track of the obligations and belongings of multiple people in and out of my household.  Now, I find myself making little errors.  I forgot to renew the registration on my car. I forgot to check my passport's expiration until 10 days before an international trip. I forgot to mail a birthday card. For a few years, I blamed such mistakes on the distractions created by personal turmoil, moving to a new city, starting a new job.  What's my excuse now....age?

What bothers me is that these failures, these mistakes, challenge what I view as a fundamental aspects of my being--I am competent, I am capable, I am organized, I can be depended upon. Mistakes call into question those key understandings. What am I if I'm not those things?  Who am I if I'm not competent and capable?

I'm a human.  That's what and who I am. Like any real person, there are gaps in my competence. I make mistakes.

Today I was reading through the recently released textbook authored by one of my colleagues, "Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Rehabilitation."  Early on are these words, "Failure, however, is a part of life. Everyone better understands the bounds of existence through the experience of falling short."  My bounds are feeling pretty tight today....

The Thank You's

I will say upfront that I'm a sucker for praise.  I don't have to have it, but I love to hear it!

This time of year, at the end of a semester and the end of an academic year, I'm touched by the comments I hear from students.  Now, maybe these are just thinly disguised last minute bids for a better grade, but I like to believe they are sincere.

Hi Professor,

Attached is my final paper.

Thank you for a great semester,

Here is my final paper. Hope you have a great summer!

I hope all is well. Attached is my Demographic Profile paper ...Thank you for a fantastic class! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was fun and I learned a lot. I'll be using this in my future business endeavors after college! Thanks again and have a wonderful summer!

Attached is my final country profile report. It's been a fun semester; I hope you continue to teach! I wish you the best!

Those are the ones I get through email and doesn't include the students who stop by to personally hand in their paper and thank me.

I know I like to hear these words, so I'm sure they do, too.  I've long been in the practice of writing individual students after the semester to acknowledge their work, their participation, or sometimes only their presence in my class. 

I saw a quote the other day that went something like this...To the world you may only be one person, but to one person you may mean the world. Few of these students will remember me in a few years, and, to be honest, I will remember few of them. I doubt I'm changing lives in my demographic methods and models class.  But the accumulated feeling of being appreciated hopefully will last much longer for all of us. 

So, go out today and say "thank you" to someone.  I think it will make you both feel good.