My Nephew Steve was one of my very favorite human beings. Tragically he died at way too young an age. He was a very creative and successful business man.This is a treasured memory for me.
Steve was a founding owner of a temporary employment agency in Washington DC. At one time his company put more people to work every morning in the DC than anyone in the city other than the government. To get all that business moving every day took about 20 offices scattered about town.
Each of Steve’s offices was led by a manager. The managers were all young people in their mid to late 20s. They all came to the main office about once a month so Steve could mentor them.
At one of the meetings Steve put 10 100 dollar bills on the table. That instantly got all their attention. Then he said “I want to tell you about one of my worst mistakes. I went to Caroline’s office for a visit. The office was very busy busy including Caroline herself. The phone rang so since she was so busy I picked up he phone to handle the call. The call was from one of her best customers. During the call I got pushy and badly offended the guy. Before I finished the call he canceled his contract with us. fortunately Caroline was able to call him back and over time healed the breach and saved the relationship.”
Then Steve said “Today I want you to tell us all of us the worst mistake you ever made while you were working for me. The one who has made a worst mistake than the one I just shared with you gets the money.
At first his managers were very hesitant to share but gradually the youthful sense of competition took over and everyone was sharing wildly. Finally Steve awarded the money. Then he said. “When you guys make a mistake it costs me money. That’s all right. I do not care. However I want you to come to this meeting and share what you learned from your mistake so all of us can learn what you learned from the incident. I want full tuition value”.
I think that beautifully illustrates the attitude my Higher Power has toward me. I am sure that my HP is upset by my mistakes far less than I am. What matters to her/him is that I use my mistakes to create spiritual growth. I have profoundly learned over my 21 years in my program is that when I bring my Higher my mistakes he loves to partner with me to help me learn and grow.
I think HP gets a kick out of doing that. I can understand completely because I am a teacher at heart myself. There is no greater pleasure for me than sharing my experience, strength and hope with a program sister or brother who wants to learn from my mistakes. What gets to me is that God even makes my mistakes work for me.
George Caywood 