Being humbled by adversity can be an asset to the proud. Many mistakes are made due to pride. Accept, savor and learn from the minor setback, the harmless defeat, which reduces the overreaching of the ego, the striving to be that which one is not.
The fact of a mistake is not an indictment against the self, but an indictment against the human nature, which tends toward error due to its limitations in reasoning. I have yet to meet the person whose every act follows the dictates of reason. Human beings are deeply irrational and subject to whims, fancies, delusions. The best we can hope for is to follow the dictates of reason in at least some areas, preferably important ones, as much as possible.
Sometimes even friends and family fail to provide the right advice and guidance. They may offer advice that is well-suited to themselves only, not tailored to the individual. Very often the nature of an individual being given advice is not considered at all. People tend to have a "one size fits all" view of human nature, which is mistaken. Is not every human being different, an individual, or do we all share the same mind? I believe that we have different minds while we are alive. We feel separated in our individual egos, with our own limitations and weaknesses, and perfect union with the whole will not be achieved until death, when we become one with the earth, the water, the air. Therefore advice should be carefully tailored to an individual if it is to be worth anything. The people that can offer good and wise counsel are few and precious, and such people should be treasured.
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