You Can Cringe at Your Old Mistakes

Stop beating yourself up and learn from your stupid.

Photo by Lucian Dachman on Unsplash

Sometimes you facepalm at yourself. Everyone’s done something stupid once or twice. So reckless that the memories make us wince. The good news? Nobody else remembers. Except that one time my friend threw her shoe through a bar window.

I mean, we all definitely remember that…

But she’s redeemed herself. Now she runs a whole department, after she stopped dating losers who triggered her.

Some of my friends never made it to the summit of redemption. I remember when a college friend took off all her clothes at a party. And I still remember the guy who got so wasted at a conference he forgot where his hotel was, and then started grabbing girls’ butts, so we tossed him in an Uber. Everyone except him remembers that.

These types might not ever wince at themselves. So we cringe on their behalf, and wait for their Buddha moment.

Older me still winces at 21-year-old me. Younger me was talented, but arrogant as hell. She hadn’t earned it. Not even close.

Make a list of the stupidest stuff you’ve done.

I’m talking about the moments when it’s all you, baby. Not the kind of mistakes where you simply…