Nadworny: Getting it right

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(HOST) Commentary Rich Nadworny has been thinking about some of the lessons those Circus Smirkus kids might be able to teach us.

(NADWORNY)  Recently I took my family to see Circus Smirkus. Watching those kids perform amazing tricks, stunts and acrobatics simply takes your breath away.

But while I truly enjoy watching the kids perform their feats, what fascinates me most is watching how these kids deals with all the flubs, slips and errors that go along with this type of show. Think about it: you practice for weeks, if not months, to get things right, and then, in front of hundreds of people, your juggling ball drops, or you fall off the unicycle, or you bump into someone. Terrible right?

Actually, no. To me, the most amazing part of Circus Smirkus is watching how these teen age kids (and younger) make their mistakes, clap or nod to the audience, keep smiling, and go at back at it as if they’re saying "Yup I goofed. I’m going to try harder next time, and I may goof again, but I’m going to try until I get it right."

They celebrate mistakes and try harder. And of course they get our forgiveness and encouragement. Made me wonder: what would happen if we all acted this way?

Remember, to err is human. From the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. Just look at our last two presidents. Bill Clinton was great at fessing up. He had the whole lip bite down pat as he apologized for his transgressions. The problem was, we all had the feeling he was going to go right back out there to flirt or worse.

And George Bush couldn’t even say he flubbed. Not much room for improvement, there or forgiveness either, to be honest.

That’s one of the big problems I have with people like the Wall Street Bankers or Governor Mark Sanford.

Some – including the governor – thinks his biggest mistake was simply getting caught, but, really, who cares what goes on between man and wife – that’s private. But we do care about someone preaching to us about family values while cheating on his own. Want to learn from your mistakes, Mark? How about promising no more stones from glass houses and a better understanding of others?

The Wall Street Bankers have the same problem. They actually don’t want to do anything different, and they’re not ready to fess up to any mistakes. Yet they want our forgiveness and we’ve given it to them, in a way, with all that bail out money. I’d like to see a group of heavyweights acknowledge that they were too greedy and put forward how they’re going to make amends, just like a Circus Smirkus kid would do.

Actually, I have a better idea. How about if we send Mark Sanford and the Wall Street bankers to Circus Smirkus for a summer? Some would make great clowns, while others, I’m sure, are already pretty good jugglers. We could watch, laugh and clap at those silly men in their tights and funny clothes. They’d still make mistakes, but hopefully they’d learn something about getting it right next time.

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