~:[CH11 - Day 16]:~ The Mistakes We Make

 
~:[CH11 - Day 16]:~ The Mistakes We Make

Whenever I cook, I worry that I may mess up. Today, I worried that I may overcook the tonkatsu I made. Overcooked, too salty or simply just not good, I always wonder if I made a mistake and I wait until someone confirms it. It can be me or sometimes it's the people around me, brave enough to take the first bite. Luckily today, the food came out alright. Why did I bring this up? As I scrolled online, I saw a line of comments blasting someone I knew. This age of social media has led to many being outed for being insincere, inappropriate or worse and what follows is a line of insults and cancellations. I understand the weight of words the individual said and that people are responsible for impact their words have, but I also, growing up as a Christian, understood the ideas of forgiveness, as in life, we are prone to make mistakes. Yes, in the process of our mistakes, people will get hurt and we must own up to our mistakes and atone for them, however, in response, I also feel that we (as those impacted by those words) must take a step back and see if our response is the most appropriate when a mistake is made, either by ourselves or those around us. In this day and age, people are inclined to attack anybody and everybody who utters something that they are offended by. In many cases, that person did make a mistake, but we've also become a society that is unforgiving and forgetful. In this particular case, I understand why people were upset, but also wonder how quickly they forgot all that this individual did to help others as well. To me, at times, why they did have reason to be upset, they also forgot the fact that in their own lives, they themselves had also messed up, even in the moment of responding with similar harsh words that are sometimes even worse that the initial incident itself. No, this is not a condemnation, an accusation or anything similar, but just an opportunity to remind us all (including myself) that before we react, that we take a second and think about our response so we don't blow the situation out of proportion or cause ourselves to get sucked in as well. It is our choice to decide what we think and to cut out those who we do not want in our lives, but is it our right to also drag them down in the process even more so than their own actions did to us? Is it our right to call out those who decide to react differently than ourselves? I thought for awhile how I would react in this situation as I know the gravity of the words uttered, but I also wanted to be understanding. Had I burned my food tonight or added too much seasoning, I would have been happy to hear about it, as it was a mistake I made; however, I would hope that they would be understanding and trust that down the road I'll learn from my mistake. Much like I would had I done this to my food, that individual acknowledged their mistake and I only hope that people will be understanding or if not, at least not add to the mistakes that were already made. Speak up when you are wronged, but also be willing to be understanding, as we all make mistakes and I know that when we make these mistakes, we hope that those around us will show some understanding and forgiveness especially when we are truly and genuinely sorry. As I write this, I realize all the room I have to grow and all that I still have to learn, but we are all a work in progress and correcting ourselves along the way is a part of our lives. I hope that instead of using a mistake to make somebody crumble down completely, we use it as an opportunity to reach out to someone to help them rebuild their foundation in hopes that the same mistake will not be made again. Be courageous enough to call someone out, but let's also be compassionate enough to not tear them down.