Have u ever made a big mistake in your life ?

Question

Have u ever made a big mistake in your life ?
a mistake which made u feel guilty and bad for a long time later on ? what was it and how did u overcome the entire negative episode ?

Answer

It is a great question to ponder over dispassionately and generally without specific reference to any particular person or incident. Here in the Philosophy section, I feel more inclined to address it this way than merely thinking about and narrating any isolated examples. So, here I go with your permission.brbrI think we regret our mistakes on two distinct counts. brbrOne is the unwanted or undesirable consequences. The best way to get over it is to reverse or rectify those consequences and if that is not possible or does not work out, pay for them through appropriate subsequent actions. Incidentally paying for them prayashchith in Sanskrit is more about getting squared up in our own mind and is not the same as obtaining forgiveness from an affected person. Moreover, life is so great that it always renders scope available for such subsequent actions that can satsfy our mind as being a proper repayment basically some corresponding sacrifice willingly undertaken or undergone.brbrThe second one is tricky. It is the hurt to our ego as to how did we end up making such a mistake. A most unwelcome cut in our own selfesteem....... a sort of feeling that I am certainly better than that to commit such a mistake. This hurts the most. And the only way to get over it is to accept the cut in our selfesteem and ungrudgingly lower it to the right level as warranted by the mistake committed. This is extremely difficult and most of us normally do not do so we instead twist our logic and reasoning to place the blame on some external factor or person even though such shifting of blame does not last for too long and a time comes when we realize that we had cheated our own self by trying to shift the blame..... such realization then becomes even a greater cause to lower our selfesteem and inflict further hurt.brbrFinally, when I think carefully, I find that learning a lesson from a mistake helps us improve ourselves not to commit the same or similar mistake in future, but does not really help us by itself in getting over the hurt from the mistake already committed. And as to reaping future benefits through learning from a mistake, I believe a greater benefit can be reaped by accepting a dent on our ego.