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Your Right to Be Wrong

December 31, 2009 by Andre Best

Sometimes this blog of mine is a real labor of love. It's a real labor to write at times, especially when I don't feel particularly inspired to write anything cogent. And at times it's something that I love to do as I love to share and impart information to readers of this e-rag so as to benefit the whole of existence, in some way, even if in hindsight that imparting is viewed as wrong.

When I don't feel particularly inspired to write something I remember my commitment to myself which included writing something that I considered to be of use to people who visit my website and read these articles, and to be of service to the good of the whole, in some way, via my words. It's not a particularly laborious task to write a thousand words or more in a short period of time, and then upload it to the website server and all that stuff.

The real hard part is getting the words out of the brain and putting them to e-paper.

That's where the real writers block occurs as millions of writers have experienced at some time or another. Being able to take electrical impulses in the brain and produce written symbols that cohesively come together to create meaning for the person or people looking at those symbols is quite the daunting task at times.

One can go about writing about nonsensical subjects, or the writing can have deep meaning to the writer. But, the readers may or most likely may not have the same affect by the words as the outpouring of them from the writer.

Each of us brings to existence our own take on so many things. We each come loaded with so many opinions and perspectives by the time we each reach adulthood, or even later childhood. I see it in my children and I experience it every day with the many people that are in my life, both intimately and loosely.

Each of us believes that we are right in our perspective of whatever the situation or subject is that is at hand in front of us at whatever particular time we're experiencing it in. Each of us has this opinion or take of the situation based on what we brought to the table of that experience. Yet, we don't go into the situation believing that what we have to share, to impart, is wrong.

We believe that what we take things to be is right. And, we're going to prove to whomever is within hearing distance that we are correct in our opinion. Like, for example: me and this article, with it being 'my' words, and 'my' perspective.

It's really interesting that this is how we go to our graves, after living our life from this viewpoint. Even me, with these words. I don't write words that disagree with what I'm thinking. It's the inherent nature of this type of sharing that whatever I'm writing I assume is correct, as it's my viewpoint, after all. I generally wouldn't write something whilst thinking that what I am writing is wrong or incorrect. At least I don't think I would.

But, how many of us will argue to our end that what we see, or think, or thought, is correct and has to be the only thing that is correct in whatever situation we find ourselves in.

How many us will argue 'till the cows come home' that we are right and everyone else is wrong, no matter what their viewpoint, but especially when it differs from ours?

It's not easy to be wrong. It's not easy to admit to the wrongness of our views, especially when those views were just shared with others. Think about this e-rag of mine. Many of you probably have your own similar type of sharing that you do. Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, and many other sharing type of avenues that are sure to come about in years to come.

How many of you openly share in your short sharings on those websites that you just did, or thought, or undertook something that you thought was wrong? I'll bet not many of you. It just isn't the nature of the beast to openly admit that we're wrong. It's a very hard thing to do, especially to those who are key to our existence.

It's as if there's something inside of us that is being taken out of us and stepped on and destroyed, or that we've opened up a part of our insides for others to openly see, and we feel embarrassed and ashamed to have undergone that type of inner scrutiny through the eyes of others.

It's not pretty at times to admit that one is wrong. Or that what one wrote, or said, or did was after the fact something that one shouldn't have done. And, this is only made more sacrosanct when others are involved in the wrongdoing.

Let's imagine that you write words, like I'm doing. Perhaps you write something, and the words are words that you believe with all your heart to be true and correct. And then, say, that the words turn out to be in an after-the-fact kind of way to be wrong and words that shouldn't have been shared or even put out to the universe in the first place. What would you do with that?

Would you hold your feet to the fire of condemnation?

Or, would you allow yourself to say to yourself that you did the best you could with the information you had at hand at the time of the original sharing? In other words, would you accept that you did what you thought was right at the time and that you did the best you could at the time with the information that you had at your disposal at that time?

I think that most of us would chalk the experience up to the latter. At least I hope most of us would.

You see, we all know that we're doing the best that we can given what we've got. This applies to all aspects of life, and relationships, and actions, and events. It's something that we take for granted with our existence, yet it's a part of every action that we undertake.

We don't go forward through our days thinking that everything we're doing is wrong and something that we shouldn't be doing. At least not lucidly.

I write these words with the genuine intent to share words and thoughts that I believe are of use to the readers of the words. I really believe that that is the right thing to do. And I believe at the time of the writing of each of these articles that the sharing that I undertake is of use to others. Perhaps it's not. Perhaps it's just trite dribble coming from the dross of the grey matter in my skull.

But, I still hang onto the opinion that perhaps I'm right, and given enough time the people who might come across my words are going to agree with the few cogent and salient tidbits I share from time to time.

I can only hope, again, that what I share is right. Now, am I the first to admit when I'm wrong? These days, yes. It's something that comes more easily to me as I age.

But, still, do I ever undertake something that includes the intent from the start of wrongness? Perhaps when I'm not thinking of what it is that I'm doing. We've all been there. We've all done things and later on asked ourselves how is it that we ended up doing that thing, when we really didn't want to be doing it.

The key to this situation is to remember that we set out with the intent of rightness. Although, in retrospect, the situation might have been something that we shouldn't have started out with, it was something that we undertook with the general best intent, initially. Don't beat yourself up for that. Just see that you're not always right. It's not bad to see this. But, it is humbling at times.

However, to put salve on the wound of wrongness: think of how empowering it is to exercise your right to be wrong.

Am I right? Or, am I wrong?

Written by Andre Best
President, Ultimate Results, Inc.
http://www.andrebest.com
'Learn About Life From Another Perspective'

(Author's permission is granted to share this full article with others. Just leave the signature line intact, please.)

Posted by Andre Best at December 31, 2009 9:54 AM

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