Daily Mood Quote

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 86 – July 28, 2011

“Experience is the name everyone gives to his mistakes.”

~Oscar Wilde

Yesterday, while out running errands (paying bills, picking up medications, life stuff...), I came across a young woman who taught me a very valuable lesson, in a short period of time. Once again, I embarrassed myself. I made an assumption based on what I heard, without processing all the facts. I did not hear this from someone else, I don't pay attention to gossip, because gossip is poison. What I heard was the sound of a young woman's voice and what I perceived to be a lovely British accent. I couldn't have been more wrong. I failed to look at the bigger picture and focused on what I heard, instead of what was right in front of me. The young woman was riding in a motorized service cart and she had two small crutches in the service cart basket. It never occurred to me that something more was going on.

When I complimented her on her lovely “British” accent, at first she said, “Thank you” and as we continued to talk, I shared with her that my children enjoy talking in “British” accents. She smiled and informed me that she was not British. I was speechless (I know hard to believe, right?). Anyway, she continued to share with me, her accent comes from a stroke she had and how the stroke affected the muscles in her face, changing the way she speaks. She reminded me that you don't have to be old to have something like this happen to you. She was in her thirties when her stroke occurred. Yet, she was very polite and patient with my ignorance. I apologized for being oblivious and for making an assumption without looking at the bigger picture. She took my hand, shook it, smiled at me and said "No problem." What a classy lady, she took the time to educate and forgive me. We exchanged goodbye pleasantries and I walked away, red faced and a little wiser for having met this extraordinary woman.

In the movie Top Gun, Viper (played by Tom Skerritt) counsels Maverick (Tom Cruise) about Goose's (Anthony Edwards) death, “A good pilot is compelled to evaluate what's happened – And apply what he's learned.” So too in our day-to-day lives, it is very easy to assume things and make mistakes we are embarrassed by. They are "experiences" and are how we learn. Bishop W. C. Magee said, “The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.” It's always been our family mantra to “think before you speak” now that has an addendum; be sure of the facts and look at the bigger picture.

What "facts" will you see before you speak today?

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