True or false: You have never made a mistake. If you were able to (honestly) answer “true” to that, congratulations on being the only human in history to have pulled it off. Galileo made mistakes, Newton did, and so did Einstein. In fact, a lot of legendary successes that people celebrate today came after multiple – and sometimes huge – missteps.

It’s in our nature as humans to fail, whether it’s professionally or personally. We are all destined to disappoint ourselves at some point, but it’s important that you don’t let the inertia continue to drag you down a faulty path. Living with a mistake is difficult and only makes your life more problematic than it would be otherwise. Yet, for some reason, learning to forgive yourself is even harder.

Going deeper than the surface level explanation that “everyone makes mistakes,” it’s important to note that there’s always a reason behind our conscious wrongdoings. Often, we get so caught up in our emotions following the incident that we forget to acknowledge the causes leading up to it.

Trying to figure out the root cause of a misstep is something that we, as a firm, focus on with every one of our clients. Typically, people don’t get arrested for a DUI when things are going well in their lives. More often than not, it is a culmination of other things going on that aren’t working properly. Taking time to really focus on what isn’t working is an important step in the self-forgiveness process. When you can identify a cause, you have the option to make a change. You begin to realize that your future is more within your control than you thought, which generates hope. Once you start to see your mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow instead of failure, you can appreciate the positive transformation that can come out of it. This shifts your mentality from being a victim, where are you stuck in a mindset of “can’t,” to instead having the attitude of possibility. Once this shift happens, you start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

If you’re facing a DUII charge in Oregon, call Reynolds Defense Firm today. Our team has the expertise to handle your criminal case and the understanding to help you on the human-side as well.