You will make mistakes. That’s guaranteed. What matters is how you respond to them.

There’s no going back. You can’t rewind time and redo the moment. Some things—like a knocked-over pillow—can be easily put back into place. Others—like a shattered vase—can’t be restored to what they were. Some mistakes are repairable. Some aren’t.

Either way, we only get to move forward.

I made a mistake at work. I missed a meeting with important stakeholders because of a time zone mix-up and, honestly, because I’ve just been overwhelmed—spread too thin to keep track of everything. It wasn’t malicious. Just human. But it still hurt. I felt the guilt. I panicked. I wallowed. I didn’t show up the way I wanted to.

But once the moment had passed, I had a choice: keep spiraling or take the next step. I apologized sincerely. I tried to reschedule. I moved forward. That’s all I could do—and sometimes, that’s enough.

The truth is, mistakes are part of life. Disappointments happen—others will let you down, and you’ll let yourself down too. But the past is gone. It’s a ghost. It’s not something you can go back and fix. All you can do is decide how to show up now.

Maybe I’m writing this more for myself than anyone else. A reminder that the good moments in life are fleeting—but so are the bad ones. That mistakes aren’t the end, they’re just part of the path. That ownership is a form of self-respect. And that growth often begins in those moments of reckoning.

So if you’ve messed up—own it. Apologize if you need to. Then take the next right step.

What happens after the mistake is what counts.