Ah, spontaneity and going with your gut. Sometimes these grand plans, these epic schemes become huge failures. Or so I was prepared to tell myself today.

As I was beginning to feel doubtful and a little self loathing for the decisions I made today, I thought of my brother-in-law’s motto for 2012.

Every New Year, he and his buddies come up with a slogan for the year. Sometimes it is ridiculous—I think one had to do with pancakes? This year the motto is “2012: the year of no mistakes.”

That does sound a little pompous—or perhaps too self-assured. Au contraire my friends. What I take this statement to mean is simply that every action you take, every decision made is meant to be made. Every choice, whether it leads to the end you imagined, is not a mistake.

To look at life through a lens where mistakes don’t exist allows for so much relief from guilt and self judgment.

I was so giddy with this motto today, that I sent my brother-in-law an over excited text message. These choices we make everyday—silly, solid, spontaneous (I guess my choices are based around the letter S)—they are all things that we learn from.

And that my friend, is no mistake.