“Oh, No! I’m human. How can that be?” by Joan Y. Edwards

I don’t like to be reminded that I’m human. That I make mistakes. That I make big mistakes. That I make such huge mistakes that I have trouble forgiving myself. Many times I am sure that other people have trouble forgiving me, too. One of the best things about being human is when other people forgive you and love you in spite of the fact that you are indeed human.

Each time I make a big mistake, I look in the mirror and say, “Oh, no. I’m human. How can that be?”

Sometimes I have a hard time forgiving myself, like the day I got a speeding ticket after I’d promised myself I would never get another one, I grounded myself for 3 days.

When I let go and forgive myself and others forgive me and accept me as I am, then I’m usually able to laugh about it. When I’m able to laugh about my frailties and flaws, it makes me feel good.
There are some things that I’ve done that even though others have forgiven me, I still can’t laugh about them. Like the day I tried to get stickers off the windows of my daughter, Lorrie’s new hutch with fingernail polish remover and it spilled on her new dining room table and took the finish off of it. I thought she was going to kill me but she said, “It’s all right, Mom. You are more important to me than the table.” I paid to have the table refinished.

And the day I forgot to put the brake on Mother’s wheelchair and she rolled off the sidewalk and it turned over. When I said, “I’m so sorry, Mother.” She said, “It’s all right. I will heal.”

Here are other times I looked in the mirror and said, “Oh, no. I’m human. How can that be?” I’ve been able to laugh about most of these.

1. The day I gathered a big huge buggy full of groceries and realized my wallet was on the kitchen counter at home.
2. The day I forgot to set our clocks ahead for Daylight Saving Time. When my second husband, Carl, and I got to church, the parking lot was empty. We had missed the entire church service.
3. The day I was so sure I could make it through my day of teaching if it was a Friday that I pretended it was Friday. An hour later, the cafeteria manager came and told me that I had given the children the lunch choices for Friday, would I please tell them the real menu for Thursday and send it to the cafeteria.
4. The day a couple of years after I married to my first husband when I added the amount I paid for our mortgage in my checkbook, instead of subtracting it and bounced a check at the grocery store/drugstore where he worked.
5. The day all the noodles for spaghetti fell in the garbage disposal  when I strained them.
6. One day I woke up and realized it was 7:30 a.m. and my first husband, Alvin and I had to be at work at 8:00 a.m. I woke my husband and told him the time and that we had to hurry. I threw my clothes on, brushed my teeth, and my husband was still in bed. I asked him, “Why are you still in bed? Why aren’t you getting dressed?” He answered, “It’s Sunday.”
7. The day I hit the publish instead of the draft button for a blog post and the blog automatically notified subscribers of a new post, but it wasn’t finished. And after I changed the title and clicked on the link,  it said, “What you’re looking for is not there?”

Thank you to all who have forgiven me during my life and loved me in spite of the fact that I’m human and make mistakes.

Thank you for reading my blog. I hope my stories about my mistakes made you cringe, made you glad it wasn’t you, and made you laugh. But whatever you feel. It’s okay. Please share your thoughts about  mistakes and being human. How do you use human frailties in your writing?

Celebrate you!

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Joan Y. Edwards, Author
Copyright © 2015 Joan Y. Edwards
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