Celebrate Your Stupidity!

Sophia Loren aptly said “Mistakes are the dues that one pays for a full life”.

The media has effectively marketed the idea of perfection and flawlessness in thought and behavior.  We see this in all self-help books, trashy interviews of celebs and famous people etc.  This concept creates a perception of success and the Aristotelian concept of perfection – nothing to add and nothing to remove.

We are humans.  It is possible for us to develop, occasionally, a loose tongue, an egocentric thought or pride for that matter.  It is also possible that our emotions take over and we fall prey to behavior that does not conform to the archetype set out by the media.

So what?  Being human, we have a right to our mistakes.  We can be really silly and stupid at times.

Carelessness, misjudgment or forgetfulness in thought, behavior and speech can cause mistakes. The norms or expectations for behavior or its consequences are derived from the intention of the actor or from the expectations of other individuals or of a social grouping or from social norms.

However, just as we do have a right to our mistakes, we have an option to go and clean it up.  The problem with the act of walking and cleaning up is that IT HAS NOT BEEN MARKETED strongly enough.  The image and perception of fallibility is strongly engraved in our psyche that we can torture ourselves with the idea of clearing up a matter, let alone doing it.

Walk up to the one you have possibly hurt and clean up your relationship today.  You may have done something silly or stupid.  It does not matter.  What matters is that it is important to bring your stupidity in your field of awareness.  The awareness will allow us to remain human possibly grow.  It gives us the positive reinforcement that is required when we goof up again!

Then, celebrate your stupidity.  Laugh at it.  Share it with your closed ones.  Lighten up.  Being on the path to perfection is better than perfection.

© Nitesh Kotecha