Reflection on the Fear of Making Mistakes

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to continually be afraid you will make one.
~Elbert Hubbard~

Have you failed to apply for a job because you think maybe you can’t do it?  Have you failed to run a race for fear you won’t finish?  Have you failed to try a new food because you’re afraid you won’t like it?

I’ve known people who were paralyzed in making decisions for fear it would be the “wrong” one.   I’ve known people who were afraid to ask for something or someone because they might hear the word “no”.

How many of us have missed opportunity when it has knocked at our door because we’ve been afraid to open that door and walk through, not knowing what was on the other side?

I have always believed that making a decision, even if it may turn out wrong, is better than not making a decision at all.  If I make a mistake, I analyze why so that it becomes a learning experience, not a failure.  I also know that, if we don’t ask, we’ll never receive anything, be it information, love, a job, a friend or whatever.  Better to ask and be told “no” than to go through life never knowing what the answer would have been.

To me it is more important to control one’s own life, to make one’s own choices, than to allow something called “fear” do it.

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