Has there ever been a person who lived on earth who has never made a mistake or an error in judgment that caused them a little, or even a lot of pain or discomfort? I believe the answer to that question is, No! Many of the early Hollywood productions were silent movies. The moviegoer could either try to read the actors lips or analyze what was going on, based on what the actors were doing, or a little of both. Interestingly, many of the silent movies were comedic, centered around a series of mistakes that the main character would make. What made them so funny was that the mistakes, or goof-ups, were things that could be a plausible mistake that anyone might make in real life. For example; running into things, accidentally knocking people over and being chased by people angry at them for ruining their day. Charlie Chaplin was one of my favorites, because of his funny walk and believable crazy acts. They made the movies in a speedier mode than normal, probably to make it harder for us to see the detail of the acting. I can remember laughing so hard that my stomach ached. Why would early writers feel that people would pay to go to watch people make mistakes? Obviously, because mistakes are funny and the fact that we all make them, those old movies allowed us to see ourselves the way we are.
Cullen Hightower said that “Laughing at our mistakes can lengthen our life. Laughing at someone else’s can shorten it.” It is true that being open enough to laugh at our mistakes is a healthy attitude, and we know that laughing, in and of itself, is healthy. It is also true that to laugh at another’s mistake may be a mistake, especially when it comes too close to the event, when they still may be hurt and/or angry at themselves for what happened. Later, when things have returned to normal, then most mistakes become funny, even to those whose mistake caused them some pain. Al Franken said that, “Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it’s a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.” Sadly enough, too many of our mistakes in life are fatal. It is very true that we learn from our mistakes, and if we fail to do our homework, then the only way we learn is by trial and error (mistakes). It has been said the reason that the Wright brothers were successful in developing a flying machine is because they did their homework and learned about what others had done before them. So they were able to avoid the same mistakes. Two hundred years before Christ, Cato the Elder said,
“Wise men profit more from fools than fools from wise men; for the wise men shun the mistakes of fools…” Even at that, I’m sure that many of the errors that were made were learning experiences for them. We have to be grateful for all those pioneers who have paved the way, through their mistakes, in order for us to enjoy life and the way we live it today: science, medicine, transportation, inventions, etc. It is sometimes hard to distinguish the difference between an accident and a mistake. I suppose the reason why is because a mistake often immediately precedes an accident. I remember when I was a young teenage boy, a few members of my family and I started square dancing one night a week. It was a lot of fun but a little confusing because of all the various movements that had to be learned to follow the caller’s instructions. One night, while dancing and twirling around, I accidentally stepped on the back of a ladies shoe in front of me and her heel went flying across the floor. The rest of the night, in good spirits, she continued to dance in a joyful way, with one heel on and one heel off. For some reason, when it happened, it struck me so funny that I couldn’t stop laughing. Every few minutes I would think of it again and start laughing all over again. Here again, my stomach started aching from my hysterical laughing. Even though I felt bad and apologized to her, it was probably hard for her to believe I was indeed sorry, because of the way I was laughing while apologizing. We all make mistakes; hopefully we learn from them and grow in mature ways, for if we do not, life can be an ongoing and never ending challenge. Josh Jenkins said that, “To err is human, but when the eraser wears out ahead of the pencil, you’re overdoing it.” Simple and innocent mistakes can be enjoyably funny, but too often we make critical mistakes in judgement that can effect ours lives in negative ways. We have to be grateful for the principle of repentance, that may be the only way we can correct some of our more serious mistakes. May God bless us to be able to learn from our life’s mistakes and mature both spiritually and mentally as a result of them.