Blood was everywhere. I’m not a blood guy, but I didn’t freak out, surprisingly enough. It wasn’t my blood; it was that of my wife, Lisa.

The stronger the relationship, the bigger the mistake you can make.

What?

You can make a bigger mistake if you have a stronger relationship.

Get it?

You Can’t Avoid Mistakes, But You Can Prepare for Them

Mistakes are inevitable. I’ve made plenty of mistakes. They’re hard to avoid.

Mistakes are in my future. They’re in your future too. I’m sorry.

But, if you know they’re coming, why not be ready for them?

Why not immunize yourself against the consequences of mistakes? Why not be proactive instead of waiting for the horrible event and the inevitable internal battle with your conscience over how to handle it?

Why not do something today that gives you the latitude to make a mistake tomorrow?

Yep, build the relationship. The stronger the relationship, the bigger the mistake you can make.

How a Strong Relationship Compensates for Mistakes

The blood was the result of a complication with the birth of our first child. All’s well that ends well. The kid is 22 now, and my wife’s still alive, so clearly, the problem with his birth wasn’t the end of the world.

But, at the time, it was traumatic. The blood was everywhere, and the doctor and nurses moved quickly to solve the problem.

Was the problem the result of a mistake? In a world where the first reaction of many is to blame everything on someone, it would have been easy to assume that the problem was someone’s fault.

But we didn’t. It never occurred to us that the doctor was doing anything other than whatever was best.

You see, she had built a relationship with me and my wife. She had worked hard to connect with us personally. We thought she was magical.

It took Lisa nearly two months to fully recover from the complications. It never occurred to us to wonder whether things were done wrong. The relationship was that strong.

Since that bloody episode, we’ve had the same doctor deliver another child. All went well.

We’ve sent the doctor gifts. We’ve referred dozens of patients. Many years later, we still speak fondly of her.

The time to build relationships is before you need them. The stronger the relationship, the bigger the mistake you can make.