TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING, or NOT
Monday, November 2, 2020
There are not enough hours in our lives to right every wrong – or change the mind of every wrong-headed thinker if we go one at a time.
Maybe we need to get better at picking our battles, focusing on what we want to change in someone or in the world, and focus on that job until done. Then, if there’s time, move on to the next, and the next, and so on …
How many things in our lives failed to work because we were stubborn, stupid, or so right, we couldn’t see reality?
And if reality shows up today, wrapped in a bow, do we trust it? Most of us will say we don’t know enough, and sometimes we’ll say we know too much already – we’ll genuflect or knee-jerk our way along this crooked path. Indeed, it’s not destiny. We can blame it on choice, which means we blame it on the choice-maker. And who makes the choices? Do we, or is it the other guy?
Smart people quite universally agree that seeing things differently, having different views and vantage points in life are normal, healthy, and something we should all respect in one another.
So why does being right mean so much and matter to the point it breaks connections, upends relationships, tears families asunder, and undermines the great political divide (and you thought the Rocky Mountains were the continental divide ~ well, think again).
Why does being right mean so much?
I self-analyze why this has been the demise of many things in my life – each with its own story, nuances, and rationale. No, they weren’t perfect deals, relationships, transactions, or arrangements – but they weren’t 1000% horrid either. Still, I’ve rolled my eyes, pulled out things – or avoided entering into sure-things, many of which might have worked out OK. Was I right, were they wrong, what was the breaking point?
I’m not sure if we spend a lifetime learning to be pickier about our choices, and then we resist good things and suitable people because things aren’t right? Is something, or someone, more right coming around the corner?
We live in a macro world, but we genuinely think ourselves into a micro-life.
Not sure if that’s the best of things or the worst of things.
But it needs to feel right, right?
And is being right the same as not being wrong?