After an early morning and a full day, I went to photograph a soccer match.

I picked up a camera I seldom use because I wanted to see how well it would perform with fast action on a sunny day.

Pointing the camera toward the stands, I pressed the button, heard a click and checked the playback.

Black screen.

Pointed the camera at the field and pressed the shutter button a couple more times.

Still nothing in the camera’s playback screen.

I showed the camera to the teenager taking pictures next to me and asked if he knew what could be wrong.

“Well the camera takes better pictures if you take the lens cap off,” he said, reaching over and gently taking the lens cap off the end of the camera’s lens.

I haven’t done anything that stupid in years.

Wait a minute.

I did something equally stupid just two days earlier.

Most people do stupid things, I told myself. But most of us don’t say anything because we don’t want others to think we’re dumb.

But if my columns over the past 20 years have revealed anything about me, it’s that I do dumb and stupid things on a regular basis.

So I decided to share my stupidity for seven days on my very public Facebook account.

The first entry of seven was about leaving my wallet at home. I didn’t realize I’d left it until the grandchildren and I were at the check-out counter. We had to leave what we’d picked out, and I felt like I’d let the grandkids down.

They were quite understanding, even more so when I promised to get them double what we’d picked out because we had to come back.

The second entry was owning up to wearing mis-matched shoes to work.

When I find a pair of shoes that are comfortable, I’ll often an extra pair in a different color. I’ve grown weary of returning shoes or having a blister at the end of the day, so when I find a good shoe, I stick with it.

Until I’m getting dressed in the dark and, hours later, realize that I’m wearing one blue shoe and one brown shoe.

The third entry was owning up to wearing mismatched earrings or only putting mascara and eyeshadow on one eye, not two.

The fourth was about leaving the water running in the sink while I got distracted. It’s a good thing there’s a built-in overflow feature in the kitchen. Apologies to you, hubby, because the water bill might be a bit higher this month.

Fifth would be about the number of times I’m cooking something on the stove, forget about what’s on there and return to burnt pancakes or ebony-black French toast.

On the sixth day, I owned up to leaving things on the kitchen counter and walking out the door without them – my keys, my lunch, my water bottle. Or leaving for the day with the back door open. Or all the lights on. Or… well, you get it.

On the last day, I owned up about leaving the lens on the camera. What I didn’t expect was the number of people who commented that they’d done the same stupid things I’d done, and they shared smiley faces with their confessions.

We were all in the stupid ship together it seemed, and we weren’t embarrassed or ashamed to admit we were human.

And that’s how I ended the post on the seventh day.

We all make mistakes. We all do things wrong and we all do things right. We beat ourselves up when we do dumb things and we forget to congratulate ourselves for getting through the day.

Give yourself a break and remember – you are an incredible person. You’ll sometimes leave the house without your wallet, your lunch or your homework.

Just don’t forget — there’s one thing you’ll always have with you – a sense of humor.

This column was originally published in The Fort Bend Herald.