Missing the mark

When you awaken in the morning, your first thoughts are not likely to be about how your day will be less than perfect. Hopefully you are telling yourself that it is going to be a great day. Why shouldn't it be? That being said, life happens. Maybe on your way to work you have a flat tire resulting in you being late to an important meeting. Because you may not be fully attentive to what is happening as people speak, you make an inappropriate comment. You notice the glares from those around you. You can't take it back so you attempt to do damage control. It feels like the longest hour of your life. Of course life comes in variations of this scenario. We are all human and we don't always do life as perfectly as we would like. One way to deal with missing the mark is to begin with an amends to those around us. A simple, "I'm sorry for that," goes a long way. It also helps to recognize when you are vulnerable to these types of behaviors and stop to depressurize before moving on with your day. Finally, you can consciously restart your day at any time. Tell yourself that you need a fresh start and proceed from there. Missing the mark isn't about necessarily being a bad person as it is about being mindful that it is about progress and not perfection. When was the last time you missed the mark and what did you do about it?