Everyone makes mistakes.  Early in my career, I made plenty of them.  And I learned from my mistakes.  Many people do not!  Life lessons surround us every day.

As a child, I learned a very hard but valuable lesson about mistakes and not taking responsibility for what I had done.  When I was very young, six or seven years old, I put a glass of water in the door of the refrigerator freezer so that it would get really cold.  I walked away and forgot about it.  When my mother opened the door some time later, the water spilled out of the glass.  My parents promptly called me into the kitchen.  Somehow they knew that I had put the glass of water in the freezer.  When my dad asked if I had put the water in the freezer, I said no.  I feared that if I told the truth, he would somehow find a way to punish me.  He said that he knew I had put the water in the freezer but if I didn’t own up to it that I would be punished.  Again I shook my head NO!  He said “just tell the truth and I won’t whip you.”  Being the stubborn young boy I was, I continued my denial.  Because I did not take responsibility for what I had done, I received a whipping with a rather thick belt.  I wasn’t being punished for putting the water in the freezer, I was being punished for lying about it. Continue reading »