How do you define mistakes?

Are you familiar with one of the famous saying of Paulo Coelho’s “A mistake repeated more than once is a decision?”
Do you agree with him?

Some would probably agree and there would be others that aren’t totally convinced. Well, I think it depends on people’s unique perspectives since each and every one of us has a different personality and of course, doesn’t have the same mindset and point of view. So I would say that I do respect your personal opinions. Nobody’s answer is wrong since you have your own valid reasons and explanations for that. Still, let’s talk about this topic anyway.
I’m just quite curious to tackle this after I had witnessed a not-so-big deal situation a few weeks ago. At first, I was hesitant to discuss this here with you guys because I myself was not so sure how I’d executed the friendly debate I had when the person involved in that situation I mentioned a while ago was initiated to talk to me. She’s my cousin anyway. And I asked for her permission before I decided to discuss it here with you guys.

If I could remember it right, she says that she was totally disappointed when her classmate, and happened to be one of her closest friends, wrongfully accused her of stealing the role in their theater play that supposed to be given to her friend. Maybe their professor finds it more suitable to be played by my cousin instead of her friend. So because of that uncomfortable moment during their meeting one afternoon, my cousin encountered a mild accident after school. She thought that she was just unlucky that day when she stepped on a banana peel that caused her to slide and injured her right hips. She wasn’t able to attend school for two days because of that. But she just ignored that incident because she thought it was her mistake for not minding her steps and she was busy texting with her phone while walking. Lesson learned she said after. There goes the week after. Out of the blue, she found herself lying on the floor, staring painfully at their school canteen ceiling and hardly spoken a work maybe because of too much pain she was feeling. She remembered some of her friends helped her to get up and carried her to the school clinic. She suffered another injury, unfortunately. Her right hip was not yet totally recovered then here goes the other misfortune. It made her previous injury worsen so she had to be admitted to the hospital. After the procedures and all, she was asked what really happened. And that was the time when she remembered the yellow thing not so far away from her when she accidentally slipped on the floor. It was a banana peel. Again. Yes. For the second time around, the culprit was a banana peel. My cousin said she had this doubt since her first accident but chooses to deny the thought. She couldn’t bear to think that that was intentional. Her mother wants to request for the CCTV camera to be check if there was foul play. But my cousin firmly says no need. That it was just a total accident. Obviously, my cousin confides in me. She says that one of her classmates saw whose the person behind my misfortune encounters with those banana peels! Her instinct was right. It was her friend. It was heartbreaking to know that her friend was capable of doing such nasty tricks to her very own friend. Not to mention there used to be best buddies. My cousin couldn’t digest the truth and she said she doesn’t know how to confront her friend. She even said that it was more painful than her injuries.

Some of her classmates visit her in the hospital with flowers, fruits, cards and some are thoughtful enough to spend their few minutes talking and sharing what the lessons they had at school so that my cousin won’t feel left behind since the semester is almost over. She told me that her friend was feeling sorry for what happened. One of their classmates told her that it was just a mistake. That it wasn’t intentional. That it was not their purpose to hurt my cousin. That they just want her to piss her off. That they hated her for getting the role they also want.

My cousin finds it hard to accept what was just happened to her a few weeks ago. Not because of the injury but because of what her friend did to her. She said that if it was only a mistake, why need to do it again? Why she had encountered not only once but twice banana peel accident at the same place? Now she was hoping that soon her friend will finally give her the apology that she deserves. She loves her friend but she was betrayed. She still doesn’t know what will happen next.

For now, it was clear to her that it wasn’t a mistake. She still convinced that it was actually her friends’ decision and intention to hurt her physically so that she couldn’t make it to their theatre play practice. What makes it sadder is that she was feeling hurt emotionally.