Making Mistakes as a Part of Our Lives

Dressed up in a bright neon yellow shirt with black leggings and worn down Converse, I punched in my card to start the day. Neon yellow wasn’t my color but nothing was bringing me down that day. It was my first day on the job. I couldn’t help but smile nervously since I had no working experience. For me, this was a way of changing from dependent to a responsible adult in my own personal way. The silence was shattered by screaming children which overwhelmed me. I could feel a growing sense of anxiety hoping that the employees would accept me as one of their fellow friends. My mood completely changed within seconds after perceiving the employees kind gestures.

The friendly atmosphere made me less anxious about making friends along my new journey of becoming an adult. “Kids, Today we are celebrating Emma’s special birthday! Everyone line up, I will open up the doors to the party room!!” I shouted cheerfully as the kids dashed to the doors frantically to get a close spot on line. All of a sudden, it hit me. The everlasting amount of kids in the birthday party were all my responsibility. The idea of being in charge made me panic. I began to face reality of growing into an adult realizing that I am highly afraid. My biggest nightmare became a reality: a mom scolding me over the birthday party decor arrangements. The woman screamed angrily. “ You set up the whole birthday party decor in the wrong places”. I felt so intimidated that I was only able to stutter “I’m very sorry”. I became aware that I must be an adult in this situation by talking it out with her. I rearranged all the birthday decor while supervising the children. It was a challenge to move every birthday decoration into the perfect spot while keeping an eye on all the children. I knew I felt accomplished when the woman changed her mood with gratitude. As days went by, I tried continually to get the hang of the job.

Soon, I didn’t have to try anymore. It became routine. I would punch in everyday to welcome a new group of kids celebrating a birthday party ran by me. All of sudden, it wasn’t nerve-racking anymore to host nor greet the employees. I finally grew accustomed to my bubbly environment. The satisfaction from knowing I am able to handle tasks now, such as setting up birthday decorations correctly, was more special than any other accomplishment I had felt before. My small accomplishments led to my personal growth. If I never achieved getting accepted for a job, I would still fear mistakes. Growing up is a part of life where mistakes will always occur. A sense of understanding came to me. There will always be a mother who gets mad over something in the party. I recognized that angry customers didn’t emphasize poor work performance but a part of life that I would have to manage. I personally grew as a person developing wisdom by learning from my failures.

As I get older, the failures are experiences that shape me into a better person for the future. It also made me grow as a person by putting myself out there such as talking about my mistakes instead of being ashamed. Mistakes are experiences that create life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. In the future, I will make plenty more mistakes by being exposed to new things. However, they aren't bad. They will improve and show me what I must work on. I won't be ashamed of making mistakes, I now understand it’s not the end of the world, we all do and it is an essential part of growing as a person. Life is about learning from our mistakes and turning them into positives.