– Anthony de Mello
Each one of us is liable to err. Yet, often the most difficult thing for us is admitting our mistakes. That’s because it involves one’s ego. But those who admit that they’re wrong and have shortcomings, always reside in people’s hearts and minds. I still remember my English teacher who, while teaching in the class, said, ‘his unkept hair’. I stood up and politely told her that it should have been ‘unkempt hair’. Those were pre-mobile days. So, she sweetly told me that she’d refer to a dictionary and get back. Next day, she told all the students that she was wrong. The right expression was indeed ‘unkempt hair’. She even added that she learnt this word from me. I still remember her with deepest respect and adoration.
Once you accept that you have erred, you open up a plethora of possibilities and pave the way for reconciliation. We genuinely love those who have frailty and accept it wholeheartedly. In fact, at times it’s easier to appear spotless and stainless than to show one’s warts and remain a human. So, accept your errors, shortcomings, follies and foibles and endear yourself to all. People can relate to us more for our defects than for our cultivated image of being paragons of virtues.
