These moments of stumbling
are for me
not against me
they are the friction
that polishes and purifies my soul
when I fall
I land in the grace
that lifts me back up to God
my failures are my path
to sanctification
it is through my imperfections
that God’s light enters my heart
I seek forgiveness
that I may live as an example
of His merciful ways
NOT AGAINST ME
By Robert Van Valkenburgh
Meditations of a Gentle Warrior
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Some things are just not worth the effort.
You might not figure this out until it is too late, however.
You may have to go down many wrong paths before you discover which path is right for you.
Mistakes are part of life.
They are where your most important lessons are learned.
You cannot truly know who you are until first discovering who you are not.
You have to live, take chances, and risk failure.
You must walk through the darkness before you can truly appreciate your own light.
But simply because you have spent a lot of time and energy going in one direction does not mean it is the right direction.
Even if it is not worth the effort needed to go forward, your effort getting to this lesson was not wasted.
What would be a waste, however, would be for you to go one step farther than necessary or to give it one ounce more energy than you already have.
Once you realize you have made a mistake, there is no point in reliving that mistake incessantly in your mind.
You already made the mistake once.
Do not make it over and over again in your thoughts.
Acknowledge your mistake, make amends if necessary, learn from it, and move on.
Life lies ahead of you, not behind you.
It is already too late to change the past.
You can, however, reconcile the past by making better decisions in the future.
Regrets are part of life.
Use them as fuel for transformation, not as an anchor to the person you once were.
Your future is not determined by your past mistakes.
Your future is determined by the actions you take to not make those mistakes again.
Sometimes you cannot fix your mistakes.
Some things you simply have to live with.
Not every wrong can be righted.
Not every word or action can be taken back, or even forgiven.
Sometimes all you can do is learn from your mistakes and move on, trying to not make the same mistake again.
There are some offenses, some harms that cut too deep or do too much damage to be healed.
This should not stop you from trying to make amends, however.
But you should know that not all amends will be accepted.
This should incentivize you to not put yourself into a position wherein you will have to ask for forgiveness, but this is an impossible task.
No one is perfect.
You will make mistakes, some of which you can righten and some of which you will have to live with.
Mistakes do not feel good, but they are necessary for progress.
Learning is messy.
The path to mastery is not a straight line.
New skills and new knowledge are not easy to acquire.
Their acquisition requires effort, struggle, and the constant overcoming of obstacles both extrinsic and intrinsic.
This means you will make mistakes along the way.
You will have missteps, make poor decisions, and sometimes you will even feel like you are going backwards.
This is all part of the learning process.
It is not always easy, nor is it always enjoyable, but it is always necessary.
When you are attempting to learn something new, expect it to be difficult, messy, and even painful.
The mistakes you make on the path of progress may not feel good, but the lessons you learn and the results you experience over time will be worth the discomfort.
Meditations on God 