The Nature of Mistakes

Sometimes, one right deed erases a past of wrongs. At other times, one mistake makes a past of getting things right irrelevant.

Photo by Sarah Kilian on Unsplash

A founder. He starts nineteen companies. They fail, but the 20^th one succeeds immensely. He is redeemed, people forget his past failures, they come to know him by this success, and no one talks about the past.

A husband. He has been a good man throughout his many years of marriage. But then, at some point, he cheats, rocking the marriage in a way that things just cannot be the same again. His wife will never accuse him of being a bad person, but he cheated; it’s his action that ended a good union. He will always be remembered for this.

A diplomat. She has served her country for a long time. She is esteemed. Then, this one time, she became hawkish, pushing for an ill-advised war that her country just couldn’t get out of. Now, her reputation is ruined, and all her past glories are forgotten. She is remembered as one who advocated for an unnecessary war that impoverished her country, sent soldiers to their deaths, and isolated her nation.