In this blog post, I look back on my childhood mistakes and embarrassing memories to reflect on what it means to keep your word and how it changed me.
When I was in junior high school, I had a very close friend. We went to school together almost every day and did most of our activities together at school. Our parents were also close, so I knew a lot about my friend’s family situation. My friend had been living with his mother since his parents divorced, and I pretended not to know because I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. Then, something happened that made me look bad.
As usual, my friend and I were heading home after school. A car was parked on the sidewalk, where cars are not supposed to be parked, blocking the way. Behind the car, there was a bicycle, which made the passage very narrow. I was trying to pass carefully, but suddenly the car honked, startling me, and I accidentally hit the bicycle, which fell over and scratched the car. The owner of the car got out and yelled at me to take responsibility. I was so scared that I couldn’t say anything, so my friend spoke for me. To be honest, I hit the bicycle, and I knew that it fell over when my friend was passing by, but I didn’t say anything. The situation was scary, but I was even more afraid of how I would tell my parents. In the end, my friend took all the blame and even gave the car owner my parents’ contact information. When the owner of the car asked for my father’s number, my friend looked at me in panic and said that my father didn’t have a cell phone and gave the owner my mother’s number. Perhaps feeling guilty, my friend told me on the way home that his father had gone to work far away and that he had given the owner my mother’s number. I already knew what had happened, but I just smiled and let it go.
Then, I suddenly felt embarrassed. I felt so sorry that my cowardly behavior had put my friend in an awkward situation and forced him to reveal his shameful secret. Moreover, my parents had always emphasized the importance of loyalty, so I had decided from an early age that I would always be a loyal person. However, when I found myself in an awkward situation, I felt so pathetic for not being able to comfort my friend and only thinking about how to get out of the situation myself. Even now, when I think about it, I am disappointed in myself to the point of feeling inadequate.
This incident made me reflect on myself a lot. And I learned one thing. That is to admit my mistakes. The reason I was scared and couldn’t say anything when I scratched the car with my bicycle was because I was afraid that my parents would scold me. I grew up without being scolded much by my parents at home. So, I think I was obsessed with not disappointing them and tried to live a perfect life. However, when I told my parents about what happened, they scolded me more for not being honest than for scratching their car. My parents taught me that everyone makes mistakes, but the important thing is to admit them.
Since then, when I do something wrong, I don’t try to hide it. I admit my mistakes and accept the consequences. This enabled me to live with integrity among my friends. When I was punished, instead of looking for a way to survive on my own, I accepted the punishment together with my friends and even took care of them, which allowed me to live with a clear conscience. It was very embarrassing at the time, and I still feel embarrassed when I think about it now, but this experience has enabled me to live a more dignified life.
