Mistake after Mistake
If a person does not accept that he has made a mistake, he very often tries to prove that others were at fault, and in that way covers up his own mistake.
There was once an unemployed man who had it suggested that he should start up some kind of business. The man said, “I don’t have the necessary capital.” The friend said that if somehow he could arrange ten thousand rupees he would lend him another ten thousand. Then with twenty thousand rupees he could start a small business. The man managed to arrange ten thousand rupees from somewhere. But when he asked his friend for the money he had promised, the friend made an excuse to back out of his promise. Then the friend started abusing the man, and on subsequent occasions tried to prove him to be in the wrong.
Why did the friend behave like this? The answer is that, consciously or unconsciously, he wanted to hold the other person responsible for not fulfilling his promise. He had an inner sense of guilt, yet he did not want to admit that he had failed to fulfil his promise. He wanted to give the impression that he had been ready to give the money, but that this man did not deserve that favour. That is, his own worthlessness was responsible for the lapse on his part. “His own incompetency deprived him of the money, and not my weakness.” A person will either accept his mistake or find faults with others.
Such a person thinks that he is being very clever whereas the reality is that he is only worsening his wrongdoing. To begin with, the friend was only guilty of not keeping his promise, but now he became guilty of levelling false accusations at another.
Whenever anyone makes a mistake, it is better for him to admit his culpability. The acceptance of a fault ends the matter at once. But when a person does not accept his faults, he will certainly find fault with others and will repeat his mistakes. A person satisfies himself either by accepting his own faults or proving that the other person was at fault. If he fails to do the former, he will certainly have to do the latter. But the latter would be worse for him than the former. Making a mistake is a human weakness. But falsely blaming others is a great crime. It is adding insult to injury.
