My Belief Will Sustain Me

To make no mistakes is not in the power of man; but from their errors and mistakes, the wise and good learn wisdom for the future. (Plutarch)

Today, I’m wiser than I was yesterday. Not because I have read more or because I’ve lived more. I’m wiser today because I’ve experienced life through hits and misses, through trials and tribulations, and through follies and perfections. So looking back in regret or trying to rectify a particular mistake in my life would not only nullify the vast experience that I have garnered but also lead to unlearning of all that I have learned through my mistakes, because it is said that mistakes are the best teachers.

Every mistake that I ever committed in life has taught me invaluable lessons. When I realised that I was the most gullible person in the world, for I so easily trust people and take them for their word, I was heartbroken. Friends and family advised me to not believe others and to always doubt other people’s intentions. I decided to rectify my mistake by being wary of every word uttered by others and by putting their intentions under radar. Soon, I grasped the futility of the entire process. It is not my fault that I trust people. It is their fault for not keeping my faith. I grew wiser the day I understood this.

There were times when I failed in some of the major challenges that life posed to me. I was miserable because I thought the failures reflect my shortcomings and hence, I should have done better than what I did. Once again friends and family advised me to do better next time and with all my might. On the way, I figured out that my failure was not an outcome of my half-hearted attempts. My failure owed its genesis to the cause that I was pushing myself towards a direction that was not meant to be. I turned around and treaded the path that my heart desired, where my passion lay. I grew a whole lot wiser that day.

I know friends and family desire the best for me. They want me to be the wisest on this earth and hence, wish me to rectify some of my mistakes. I, too, wish to rectify at least one mistake but then I can neither go back in time nor change my constitution, for I’m a product of my better judgement as well as my mistakes. My mistakes make me human and I have no qualms in confessing that I’m fallible. When saints, mystics, philosophers and poets are of the opinion that ‘to err is human; to forgive divine’, why should I even try to be otherwise.

I will try to be divine by forgiving all those who have erred against me. I’ll forgive them for breaking my heart and my faith. I’ll forgive them for treating me like a fool. But never shall I deem myself infallible. Never shall I stop committing mistakes. Never shall I stop believing in humanity. My belief will sustain me.

Dr Sonika Sethi