You Are Wrong
The world has a lot of problems; I think we can all agree on that point. And each of us, as selfish individuals, contributes to that in our own small way. But we can solve, or at least mitigate, a good portion of those problems, by accepting two simple words: I’m wrong.
Stay with me here as I explain. The odds are, each of us has at least one closely held belief that is completely wrong. It may be something as simple as believing that traffic lights always turn red just for us, or a belief that the trees are secretly controlling our every thought. In particular, the vast majority of our problems in individual relationships are caused by our dogged refusal to admit that WE ARE WRONG in a given situation. Politicians refuse to admit that they made a mistake until they are backed into a corner with photographic evidence. Spouses feel they have to constantly one-up each other. When you’re at the grocery store and something rings up “wrong,” maybe you just read the sign incorrectly. Is that so difficult to believe? Well, we’re all wrong a good portion of the time, and here’s the second part of the equation: It’s okay to be wrong sometimes! Life is about being wrong and learning. Maybe accepting our own mistakes make us less jerk-tacular to each other.
If you read this, I want to you take at least one opportunity within the next 24 hours to say to another person, “I’m wrong,” or at least, “I could be wrong.” And maybe, just maybe, next time you’re in some sort of conflict with another person, you could stop and make an attempt to be objective about the situation. Maybe you really did run the red light when you hit that other car. Maybe you really did put insufficient postage on the package you sent. Admitting that we are wrong frees us from trying to be perfect all the time even at the expense of the truth.
But then, I could be wrong.
Stay with me here as I explain. The odds are, each of us has at least one closely held belief that is completely wrong. It may be something as simple as believing that traffic lights always turn red just for us, or a belief that the trees are secretly controlling our every thought. In particular, the vast majority of our problems in individual relationships are caused by our dogged refusal to admit that WE ARE WRONG in a given situation. Politicians refuse to admit that they made a mistake until they are backed into a corner with photographic evidence. Spouses feel they have to constantly one-up each other. When you’re at the grocery store and something rings up “wrong,” maybe you just read the sign incorrectly. Is that so difficult to believe? Well, we’re all wrong a good portion of the time, and here’s the second part of the equation: It’s okay to be wrong sometimes! Life is about being wrong and learning. Maybe accepting our own mistakes make us less jerk-tacular to each other.
If you read this, I want to you take at least one opportunity within the next 24 hours to say to another person, “I’m wrong,” or at least, “I could be wrong.” And maybe, just maybe, next time you’re in some sort of conflict with another person, you could stop and make an attempt to be objective about the situation. Maybe you really did run the red light when you hit that other car. Maybe you really did put insufficient postage on the package you sent. Admitting that we are wrong frees us from trying to be perfect all the time even at the expense of the truth.
But then, I could be wrong.
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