The Color
Of Being Wrong
“Everybody
is wrong about everything,
just about
all the time.”
(Chuck
Klosterman, Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto)
Fairly frequently I discover that I
am completely wrong about something - you know, little things like some
statistic or a bit of trivia, or a corrupted a memory file of some event;
occasionally about something more significant like how to be a good husband or
father. My 17-year-old son does not hesitate to inform me when I am in error.
My wife too is bold in correcting any misguided assumptions I may fabricate.
I'm not really fond of being told that I'm wrong; it pokes a number of my
buttons, and for this I am grateful for it is in those moments that I have a
chance to grow.
“There are
two circumstances that lead to arrogance:
one is
when you're wrong and you can't face it;
the other
is when you're right and nobody else can face it.”
(Criss
Jami, Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality)

In recognizing fallibility, though, I
am coming to realize that who I am is not about how right, accurate, or precise
I am. I make mistakes, often and regularly; it is a part of my persona. So be
it. "To err is human..." and I am all of that. Being able to
acknowledge to my family, or to anyone for that matter, that I am incorrect
about something is a bit of grace in the world. It tells them that maybe it's
okay for them also to be wrong sometimes, that the sky won't come crashing down
if we are not right about everything all the time. Correct or incorrect does
not define me - my heart defines me, Love defines me.
“The best
of us must sometimes eat our words.”
(J.K.
Rowling)


I leave the last word to author and
businessman Donald Hicks:
“To make
mistakes or be wrong is human.
To admit
those mistakes
shows you
have the ability to learn,
and are
growing wiser.”
(Donald L.
Hicks, Look into the stillness)
The color
of being wrong...
humility
in action.
Admit
you are
wrong
to a child
and teach
them
how
to
learn
Love
Breathe
Pray
To Ponder Further:
- From the Bible: "Love is
patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It
does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it
keeps no record of wrongs." (1 Cor. 13.4-5)
- From Buddhism: "The man who foolishly does me wrong, I will return to him the protection of my most ungrudging love; and the more evil comes from him, the more good shall go from me." (Siddhartha Gautama Buddha)