We Make Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. 

We're all human. Well, most of us. Those of us that aren't hamsters or other non-human forms of life are definitely human. 

As the old saying goes, "it's only human." 

Sometimes the mistakes we make are small and only cause minor inconveniences.

We might forget the oil in a cake.

Or sleep in and show up late for work.

We could take a wrong turn and get lost for a while, or accidentally run a stop sign.

Other times, we make bigger mistakes that lead to much larger consequences.

Perhaps someone in a position of power could make a poor leadership decision and the results could affect the lives of several people under his or her direction. 

Or maybe we make a poor financial investment and lose our life savings.

A person could make a hasty decision about who to marry, and later face heartbreak and divorce.

But sometimes in life, we make he worst kind of mistakes: the small mistakes that have huge consequences. 

Maybe we accidentally leave the stove on and a child gets burned.

Or maybe a scientist makes a minor miscalculation and a dangerous experiment turns deadly.

These are the worst kinds of mistakes, because most of the time, they're almost unnoticeable until after the fact.

Maybe they're due to carelessness, or sometimes they result from some tiny, unavoidable action.

After we see the consequences of our mistakes, it's easier to see where we went wrong.

We might experience guilt, remorse, regret.

As much as we might like, every human knows that we can't change the past. 

We have to live with our mistakes, and learn from them. 

The only thing we can do is move forward, and try to be better.

And never forget the lessons we've learned.

Like the fact that all the affection in the world can't save a hamster who has no water in his bottle for days when it's a hundred degrees.

R.I.P. Walter-called-Bandy.

 It would have been his second adoptiversary in a couple of weeks, and we were going to have a party. Shortly after that, we were going to move him in with Radagast so he could have a friend again. After Nigel died, I had a hard time taking care of him because it always made me sad to look at him. He got left alone a lot, and he probably felt a little neglected. It breaks my heart a thousand times over to know that after all the time and effort and attention I gave Nigel, Bandy died because I couldn't be bothered to check his water once in a while.

We all make mistakes. Some are harder to deal with than others.