For the past few weeks, I had been planning on attending a yoga event in South Denver. One of my favorite yoga teachers and mentors, Desiree Rumbaguh, was coming to town. There was no way I was going to miss seeing her.

I live in North Boulder, so South Denver is a drive for me. I pulled up the directions on Mapquest as I was running out the door. According to my reliable source, the studio was forty-five minutes away. I looked at the time. 12:30 p.m. The event was not until 1:30 p.m. One hour. Perfect. I had plenty of time.

As I got on the road, I realized only the first page of the directions had printed out. Great. I knew how to get out of my neighborhood and head into Denver. What I really needed was the second page.

I need to clarify this scenario for a second so you understand what goes on inside of my head when I get behind the wheel. Let’s just say it’s not good. I DO NOT do well with directions. Not sure what that’s about, but I’m actually going to admit that I’d rather hop a flight to New York and negotiate myself around the city than get on a highway and try to figure out where I’m going in a town I call home.

So here I am on US 36, driving seventy miles an hour, without a clue. Do I hop on I25? I70? I had tried calling the studio and even emailing them before I left just to confirm I knew where I was going, but they were not picking up.

I was in the middle of living one of my biggest nightmares.

The forty-five minute drive turned into an hour and a half. It was WAY farther than I had anticipated. I was already thirty minutes late. And judging by the traffic at 1:00 p.m., I had no friggin’ idea how I’d get home any earlier at 4:00 p.m. during rush hour to pick up my little one from pre-school on time.

I turned around and went home.

SO pissed at myself. I started beating myself down.

Why didn’t I call the studio yesterday? Why didn’t I review the directions with my husband? He’s my navigation tool when I’m in a pinch. Why didn’t I look at the directions before I left the house? Why didn’t I give myself more driving time?

Damn. I couldn’t let it go. I was on the verge of tears.

This was my entire day. Sitting on my butt in friggin’ traffic driving around like a crazy person.

And the only person I could be pissed off at was myself.

I made a mistake. I had not prepared myself well enough.

Check this out. Every single person on this planet makes mistakes. We are here to learn, and mistakes are just part of our process.

But I will lay cash down on the fact that so many of you beat yourself up over something silly like I did yesterday.

Here’s the dealio. Who cares if I missed the event? I’ll catch Desiree this summer at the Wunderlust Festival in Copper Mountain and at the Omega Institute in Rhineback, NY. And so what if I sat in the car all afternoon? I actually enjoyed being able to catch up, live in the flesh, with several of my associates in Connecticut, Chicago, NY, and Houston that I normally am only able to communicate with via email or text message.

What I’ve have come to learn is that character is not defined by the mistakes we make. Character is what we do in the face of adversity.

The lesson I learned yesterday is to prepare the night before I go anywhere. And when I can learn from my mistakes and you can learn from yours, we will not repeat them, right? Our mistakes will help us evolve and grow. And that, my friend, is the basis of life.

Neil Gaiman, award-winning author, couldn’t have said it better, “If you’re making mistakes, it means you’re out there doing something.”

Our mistakes show our humanity and humility.

What mistakes have you made recently? And what have you learned from that incident? I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.

XO, Hayley

Hayley Hobson is an author, speaker, business coach, yogi, Pilates instructor, and holistic nutritional expert based in Boulder, CO. Her unique and intelligent style promotes strengthening while softening—empowering her client’s to heal not only their physical bodies but their hearts and minds as well. To learn more about her nutritional courses, events, and custom programs, visit hayleyhobson.com or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

*Photo Credit: Richard Elzey via Compfight cc