To learn is to make mistakes, but to admit error and learn from it requires faith. There are life threatening situations that definitely need immediate intervention, such as when a child blindly runs across a street or a drunk driver on the road. But there are many occasions where mistakes do not physically endanger ourselves and others, and to fully understand the consequence of an action is to be allowed to live it.
Allowing someone to make mistakes is different from “tough love”, where one person has power over the other, and the reward is given rather than self generated. It is very hard for me to watch my children flounder. It’s even harder to watch myself flounder. It takes faith that at some point we might learn something from the experience, and go on giving ourselves permission to make mistakes.
