The Worst Mistake Is To Not Make Any

One month. Tomorrow I have been with Red River Farm Network full-time for an entire month. Where does the time go?

I'll be honest, the first two weeks were a little overwhelming. I was trying to get into a routine, set up my office and a long list of other tasks. Things have settled down and still no routine...it's safe to say farm broadcasters don't really have a routine, because each day is different from the next! But that's what makes my job so exciting, I get to come to work and talk about various individuals about the numerous issues facing our industry!

It's also safe to say that I've made my share of mistakes over the last month. My recorder dies in the middle of an interview, the guys didn't receive the email with my stories for a broadcast and the subject line of FarmNetNews simply read Re...just to name a few. Being the perfectionist that I am these mistakes are frustrating. As much as I want to avoid making mistakes, no matter how hard I try I am going to mess up from time to time. But making mistakes is part of life, it's how we learn.

As a child we learn that you will get burned by touching the red burner on the stove, as a teenager we learn that breaking curfew will cause you to lose privileges and as a college student we learn that we have to be responsible for getting to class on our own and turning our assignments in on time. These are just a few of the countless lessons we learn during our lifetime. Sometimes we learn them the hard way and sometimes we learn from the mistakes of others. As a young woman who is entering the work force, I know that there are many lessons I have yet to learn.

Thomas Edison once said "If I find 10,000 ways something won't work, I haven't failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward..." What an interesting way to look at a situation. Embrace our mistakes? Now that's a new concept! But what a freeing one. If I lean into the mistakes I make and look at them as a step forward, instead of beating myself up for it, I might take more away from the experience. Since making mistakes is inevitable why not look at each of them as a step forward rather than a step back?

Until next week,