Tag Archives: mistakes

Can You Take Criticism and Hear About Your Shortcomings?

One of the main reasons that I cherish the time I get to work alone is that I don’t have to take input from anybody else. I admit it; I would rather sail through my working world without having to take criticism or have to hear about my flaws and shortcomings at all. I figure I beat myself up enough that I just don’t want to hear what other people think too! HOWEVER, we inevitably have to take constructive (and not-so-constructive) criticism and there can be some very positive things that come from taking a good look at how other … Continue reading →

When Do Those Misconceptions Stop Being Cute and Should You Correct Them?

Childhood misconceptions—those cute little ideas our children come up such as theories that the moon is made of cheese and the clouds are really fluffy marshmallows—when they are tiny, these can be adorable, but at some point, shouldn’t we correct them and give our children the true, accurate explanations? The answer, of course, is yes—we do need to correct those cute misconceptions so our children will both know the truth, and also not be embarrassed if they are corrected by someone else. It takes some care and tact, as well as a willingness to let go of the “cuteness” and … Continue reading →

What Can We Learn From How Other Parents Raise Their Children?

The fact is, we parents want support. We crave encouragement and education and some good old fashioned reinforcement for our efforts as parents. After all, could there be a more inexact science than parenting? We have no idea if what we are doing is right, wrong, or will even make a difference in the evolution of our child in the long run. However, we often tend to be judgmental or NOT want to share our real parenting struggles with other parents—even though we all have plenty to learn from each other, whether we agree on parenting styles or strategies, or … Continue reading →

If You Could Start All Over in Your Home Business, What Do You Wish You Knew?

Most of us have learned by doing in our home businesses. No matter how many months or years of research, planning, and reading we put into things before we hung up our shingle and opened our home-based business, chances are, we learned most of what we know about owning and operating a business or being an independent contractor by the actual day-to-day details of our work. But, have you ever stopped to ask yourself—if you could start all over again—what you wish you had known at the beginning? If I had it to do all over again, most of the … Continue reading →

So, You Messed Up, Now What?

Mistakes happen. Bloopers, disasters, big messes, oops…all of these are fairly common occurrences and, just because you are operating a home business and attempting to do everything just so—this does not mean you are exempt from making mistakes. So, you’ve made a big mess or an enormous mistake—now what? You can either run or hide from your mistake or choose to face it. Chances are, if you are a sole proprietor, running your own small home business, there is no one else to cover for you or face your blooper for you so it just comes down to you and … Continue reading →

What Can We Learn From Our Mistakes?

I remember being taught years ago that most of our most valuable lessons in life do not come from times when we do everything right. In fact, our most lasting and important lessons often come from our biggest blunders and mistakes. I know that I have definitely been making my fair share of mistakes since I started working on my home business. It’s amazing how those “mistake lessons” really have taught me some valuable lessons! Of course, this whole “learning from mistakes” thing is not necessarily something I appreciate when I’m in the midst of a big problem or mistake. … Continue reading →

Freezer Cooking: Don’t Give Up!

After spending several years on mailing lists, message boards and other resources for freezer cooking fanatics, I have seen it all. The most common thing I see, is people giving up too soon. Why? I have often wondered this myself. Why give up on something that will help so tremendously in the long run. Sometimes, I think people forget that, there you do not have to cook for an entire month, if you do not want to. Freezer Cooking can be done for a week at a time, or could be done once during a month and then not again … Continue reading →

Dusty Bottom Awards & Young Riders

My daughter takes horseback riding lessons and yesterday, she earned a prestigious Dusty Bottom Award. So what is a Dusty Bottom award you may be wondering? These are certificates given to young riders at the stables where she takes her lessons when they fall or are tossed from their horse’s back and hit the sand in the arena – thus creating the dusty bottom. Falling off the Horse Falling off the horse is as important to a young rider’s education as riding a horse is. In fact, it may be one of the most important lessons a rider can learn. … Continue reading →

Dealing with Consequences of Poor Choices

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Have you ever done anything stupid financially or hurt someone and felt tremendous regret over your actions? Maybe it felt like a bad dream you’d hoped to wake up from but couldn’t. I imagine all of us at one point or another have done something stupid that we couldn’t undo. When we make poor choices it might feel like God is angry with us. As a result, we may pull away from Him because our shame is so great. I had a lot of regret one weekend after having a custom ring made. I liked the design. I was forced … Continue reading →

Scrapbooking: Put a Butterfly on it

My friend Grace is a die-hard quilter. Her work and the work of her compadres is beautiful, and every project seems to come out a masterpiece. “Don’t you ever make a mistake?” I asked her. “Sure we do. We just put a butterfly on it,” she answered. I looked at her with no understanding whatsoever. She went on to explain that they weren’t necessarily mistakes, but occasions for butterflies. Her appliqués were often not planned, but cover-ups! The same rule applies in scrapbooking. They’re not mistakes, they’re opportunities. In the example here, I screwed up the title. I tried to … Continue reading →