Petros Mfune, the chess Razorblade does not want to be reminded about this. He blew a game he was clearly winning, against CM Paul Khuphwathea at the 2018 Batumi Chess Olympiad Qualifiers, in Lilongwe, Malawi. As if that was not enough, not only did he blow the game, he was unable to remedy a draw, and he eventually lost the game.
It was hard for him As he reset the pieces on the board, he looked around, and there was nobody to blame, but himself. He was so angry with himself, and because of this anger, he went on to lose the next round and the next after it. In the end, as great a player as he was, he failed to qualify to represent Malawi at the Olympiad.
In life, when we fail to forgive ourselves in what ever grave errors we have made, it is a seed that makes us to harvest disaster. We have missed critical moments at times, very important moments that in theory, cannot be retracted, and we have failed to come back into games, because we had failed to forgive ourselves for the errors of our thoughts.
Next time, when you make a mistake, tell the enemy, that this one is gone, I shall look forward to the next challenge.
People have ended up mediocre in life just because they failed to forgive themselves after a grave mistake. We become so obsessed in the silly mistake we have made, to the extent of failing to see new opportunities.
Learn to tell yourself, “I have made a silly mistake, yeah. But I have forgiven myself”.
I once watched soccer Highlights of the great Italian striker Roberto Baggio, where he missed a critical penalty in a world cup final. As Dunga the Brazilian captain stepped up for the last penalty, Roberto started walking out of the field, he never looked back. To him, it was, this is over, lets me go for new challenges.
The great Levon Aronian once said: I find it hard to get over my wins than my losses. Well, you can also train yourself to get over your loses quickly and learn from them, while you hold onto your wins, especially your most brilliant wins.
Do not take life too seriously, to the point of failing to forgive yourself.
When you make a grave mistake and after looking around, you see nobody to blame, but yourself, remember, the battle is not physical, but spiritual. There are always forces working against us, to ensure that we blunder, you can not see them with your mortal eyes, but thank God for Jesus, who has sent the Holy Spirit to help us with all understanding of both the physical things and the spiritual. Take responsibility for the errors you make, take responsibility for your loses, take responsibility for your mistakes, and challenge yourself to be better than your previous self of yesterday, building towards the spirit of excellency. Mistakes that break you are over in Jesus name. Receive mistakes that make you a better person, who continues to grow and evolve towards perfection in Jesus name.
