Find & Replace
March 31, 2020•275 words
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In many different computer programs there is a feature called Find & Replace. It does exactly what the name implies: it'll find a bit of text you're looking for, and then replace it with something else. It'll do it no matter how many times the text appears. It's perfect for replacing someone's name in an article you're writing or changing a number that appears frequently in your spreadsheet.
What a genius feature, right? Simple but incredibly effective.
I've been wondering these past few days about all the mistakes I've made. I'm not blaming myself for them - it's absolutely human to make mistakes. I just always make sure to apologize to those hurt by a mistake I've made, that's all.
Yet, I'm not proud of all of them. I'd consider some as shameful, completely preventable and pretictable. I just didn't see them. Or didn't want to see them? That might be the case...
What if I could find all of them? Learn about them, understand how they happened and why I didn't see them coming?
Damn, that's an enticing thought.
And then being able to replace them? With successes? That'd be, how should I put it... Dope.
But something tells me that such a "feature" would make things worse. Time and again, I'm realizng that mistakes are important. Even when not apologized for, they still mater in the grand scheme of life.
They make you. Without them, you'd be no one.
The lesson for myself here is this; don't even dare to dream about "correcting" the past. There's no going back, and you can't change it.
That's what I call the beauty of life.