When you think about it, many quarrels between people stem from our pernicious need to be right.
Hey, if you are being paid to be right, you have to stand your ground. Your customer, your client or your patient is counting on you. Other than in some employment contexts and a few other contexts, though, do you really need to be right?
What do you gain from the need to be right? You probably lose more than you gain. Reflect on disputes, and you likely will find that arguing for the sake of being right typically does nothing more than cause the argument to continue, to escalate, to expand and concomitantly fuels the flames of anger, division, and destruction.
I’m going to experiment with an approach moving forward such that when I sense and argument developing, and it is unnecessary to be right (which will be many situations), I am going to try to overpower the prideful need to be right.
To overcome the need to be right, I am going to replace it with the need to be kind. I am interested to discover how this approach will make me feel, to experience how other people react, and to see how various situations proceed.
I pray I can do this!
With Love,
P. Gustav Mueller, author of The Present