Vanessa Hudgens took nude photos of herself that were leaked to the press. Whoops. Miley Cyrus also had a lapse in judgement and snapped herself in her underwear. Double whoops. Kristen Stewart was papped smoking something suspicious on her balcony. Now that's just plain silly. But instead of beating themselves up over their mistakes, all of these girls used their slip-ups as a lesson to learn from. Then they moved on with life, wiser and smarter, and sure to never repeat their mistakes again. Teen psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg explains how to deal with these doozies.
You bombed on an exam
You spent every spare moment of biology class daydreaming about RPattz and now your report card has a big fat F on it.
Dr MCG says: "If you fail a class the reality is that you probably didn't do any study or did not study effectively! So lesson one is you only get out of something what you put into it. Lesson two is to find what is an effective learning style for you! There is always a positive in every negative."
You betrayed a friend or bullied someone
You discovered a nasty streak inside yourself that you never knew existed when you spilled one of your best friend's secrets all over school for a laugh.
Dr MCG says: "We all make mistakes and on occasions behave in a vain, greedy, selfish, stupid way! Everyone is allowed to make mistakes, the trick is to learn from them. If you keep doing the same thing, that's just dumb! Moving forward involves acknowledging we stuffed up, apologising to all the people involved and then trying to make different choices next time."
You cheated on your BF
You and your boyfriend hadn't been getting along for a while but instead of chatting to him about it, you pashed another boy at a party instead.
Dr MCG says: "Apologise to your boyfriend and really think about why you did what you did. Almost all the important decisions we make in our lives are made on the basis of limited information. The trick is to get as informed as possible by seeking wise counsel from people we respect. Don't ruminate over past mistakes - it achieves nothing and is a waste of energy."
You lied to your parentals
And not just a "This new dress was only $30" type of lie. You told a whopper. A big time, can't reverse, wish-you-didn't-say-that lie. Your lie to the parentals went more along the lines of: "I took the car without asking and crashed it." Yikes.
Dr MCG says: "Always apologise - admit you stuffed up and tell your parents that you have learnt from your mistakes. It's important for your parents to trust you and they won't be able to if you're not honest with them. No matter what you've done, they'll get over it in time, so be straight with them from the start, or they'll eventually find out and you'll be in even more trouble!"
The Rules for Surviving a Slip-up
1 Acknowledge it. Once you've 'fessed up to your mistake, you can move forward.
2 Learn from it. Take all the good you can out of a bad sitch and never go there again.
3 Move on. Leave all the embarrassment, hurt, anger, frustration and guilt behind. What's done is done - it's time to go forward.
Disclaimer
Hold up a sec. We're not saying for one teeny tiny second that it's okay to go around trying your luck, making mistakes on purpose and then just saying, "Um, sorry!" coz that's just stoopid. But when you do make a mistake, it's important to know that it's not the end of the world and that you can learn from it and move on.
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