I have often been asked the question: would you rather be right or would you rather be happy? I used to think that these were mutually exclusive terms, but they are not. There are times when being right is the enemy of being happy.
Mr. Spock once said that logic is but the beginning of wisdom, not its end. There was a time not all that long ago that you could have referred to me as Mr. Logic. Being right was the most important thing for me. Being right was what made me happy. I put my befuddled brain to work on a problem, and, sometimes, I found the answer. At times, almost accidentally, I was actually right. But not everybody else agreed with my assessment. No matter how right I thought I was, it still ruffled the feathers of other people. That is when I realized that people are not always interested in what I think is right and will fight me every step of the way regardless of the validity of my ideas.
That broke my heart.
When it comes to being right, I will only be happy if I reserve my findings to myself, discovering what is right for me. Just because it is right for me doesn’t mean it is right for anybody else. Leave everybody else out of this. We are not here to correct people or straighten them out. We were not charged with the responsibility of educating them. Let others figure out if they are wrong on their own. Believe it or not, they don’t need any help from us. It is our self-imposed ignorance that must be smashed on the rocks of new thinking.
Let us never forget that this business of being right is also a pride thing and nothing good comes of pride. I have found that this discovery allows me to be both right and happy, which is all I ever wanted. This is how I have come to the conclusion that being right is highly overrated.
Thank you
Jim
James A. Francetich is a freelance writer and author. The opinions expressed are solely of the author and do not represent any community based recovery programs, private or public entities or any governmental agencies.