What is the flag that waves high on the flagpole of fear in downtown idiotville? Guilt.

Your average screw up won't kill you.

Making a mistake can kill any serenity of the moment prior to it and for a varying time period after it depending on how big of an idiot you are. But no matter who you are, you are expected to live through all of it and come out smiling. A mistake also serves to kill ignorance and complacency. It is adversity, and it grows its maker. That is, of course, as long as its maker isn't appeasing herself with guilt. I don't know that anyone feels good about making mistakes--we like to appear smart. We tend to feel bad about them--because we look to the problem for the solution. We focus on the deadening instead of on the growing.

We think that by living and reliving our screw up, our brain will suddenly see something in a new light. People, it's the heart that sees light, not the brain. A mistake, though, gets its hooks in you. It pierces, creating a void to be filled. You either fill it with good things--living things, new things, making a wholesome pot of soup things--or fill it with similar, bad things--dead things, old things, Indian garbage pit things. We already feel bad, so bad things come naturally. We may also be thinking of killing the bad thoughts, which only brings more. This is where you have to stop yourself. You have to go out of your way to find some good things. This will allow the mistake to grow you.

Guilt is just an excuse for ignorance and complacency. It is the scared you that doesn't find you being an idiot funny. But something tells you that calling yourself an idiot IS funny. That's faith. Faith is the light for the heart. It'll help you fill the void with good things. It will heal the wounds. It is forgiveness. It will teach you to build your sand castle further from the water, in idiotville or wherever.