Some Mistakes Are Bigger Than Others

I know virtually nothing about water polo. But I do know that a mistake with one second left in an Olympic semifinal match that leads to overtime when your time was about to win is big. Huge. Bigger than probably any other mistake imaginable.

I turned the U.S. Women's seminfinal match on this morning just in time to see the Americans win it . . . almost. I turned the TV on with about two minutes left in the match, with the match tied. The Americans score a goal to go up by one. The Australians later shoot and miss with one second left in the game. The U.S. coach calls a timeout. The only problem is the Americans don't have the ball, possession.

That creates a situation in which the Australians get a free shot at the goal, with one Australian and our goalie. Sort of like a technical foul in basketball. Chris Webber, anyone?

The Australian player makes the goal; and the match goes to overtime.

Wow. What a mistake. Mistakes were made all throughout the match . . . and all throughout the Olympics. But none bigger than that one.

So it is with life. We make mistakes all day-long (or at least those of us who admit to them). But some mistakes are bigger than others.

What we need is people around us like the U.S. coach had around him. As soon as the foul/penalty was assessed, his players rallied around him and encouraged him to shake it off. The players all knew the enormity of it. But they also knew that it could have just as easily been them to make a huge mistake. And I would imagine they all realized the good things their coach had done for them.

Who do you have around you that encourages you to shake it off, to move on, to keep on going, even after you mess up worse than you could ever possibly imagine?