Pathwalking 206
Sometimes you might be wrong.
Every choice we make will produce an effect of some sort. While we desire a good effect or a successful outcome – from time to time we won’t get it.
This is a perfectly normal and ok thing. Everybody makes mistakes. The key is what do you do with your mistakes?
Some people plod through. They continue along that path, despite its obvious problems. Tenacity can be a good thing, but it can also be problematic when you produce the same result over and over – and it is not the result you desire.
Some people get angry. They cast aspersions, start to place blame and look all around them for the faults and outside mechanisms that caused this to not work. They often continue blazing that trail, despite their being wrong.
Some people get depressed. They mope about, they blame themselves for their failings, and they become daunted and lost. They have no idea what to do, how to do it, and they feel bad. They get stuck believing that their being wrong is just a sign of their inabilities.
Some people recognize they were wrong. They realize that the path they were on is faulty, and they seek a means to correct and change it. They work in whatever way they can to find a new and more functional path, and strive to learn from that which they were wrong about.
I know which of these options I prefer. I also know which I have done and am inclined to do, and what is important is upon recognizing this correcting the thoughts, feelings and actions surrounding whatever it was I was wrong about.
It is unfortunately a very easy thing to be wrong and to fall into one of the traps.
What traps? The first is seeking the outside influences that made me wrong. The things beyond my control that caused me to be wrong.
The second is simply sticking to the thing I was wrong about, without an analysis of it. I hold onto this thing, whether its material or immaterial, and keep on pushing at it without trying to figure out why it is wrong and if it is something I should leave behind or move away from.
This brings me to the concept of wrong. Wrong says that I am mistaken, incorrect, and this might be about an opinion I hold, it might be an ability I think I possess, it might be a path I think I should be walking. Wrong takes a number of forms and can hold a number of meanings, and they are mostly different from person to person.
One of the most important things about the idea of wrong is that far more often than not it is a personal matter. While we often apply it to outside things, we frequently don’t recognize that it’s a perceptional matter.
Wrong is often paired with right. This can work, but a lot of the times this actually clouds the idea. These notions are not simply black and white, either/or. They are complex, and they are nuanced, and the balance of the scale is not necessarily these notions on opposite sides.
The thing about being wrong, whatever it is I am wrong about, is that it can be changed. It can be fixed, it can be altered. I can do something with it, I am not necessarily stuck with the wrong forever.
First there are the simple wrongs that are easily corrected. I chose the wrong jacket. Ok, then change jackets. I chose the wrong size coffee. Ok, get a different sized drink. I chose the wrong paint color. Repainting is a thing.
Next there are the wrongs that carry more weight and may require more effort to change. I chose the wrong path. Ok, I can analyze what was wrong with my path and move on. I chose the wrong career. Ok, I can examine this for content, figure out how to fix it and choose anew. I chose the wrong relationship. What’s wrong with it? Can it be fixed, or is it best to call it a day and to move on?
The most complicated matters of being wrong are the most personal. Opinions. Beliefs. Knowledge. When we learn we are wrong about a thing of this nature it can be particularly difficult to not berate ourselves, or to angrily or stubbornly defend our positions. Friendships shatter from these wrongs. Groups dig in and shout from the rooftops from this. Wars are waged over these matters of wrong.
Because wrong is so personal, and because it is so inevitable, how we handle it goes a long ways towards finding, choosing and walking our paths. When we recognize that sometimes we might be wrong, we can be more accepting of this and work more positively on necessary alterations.
We all make mistakes. We are not always perfect, we are not always right. And that is ok. Welcome to the human condition. Rather than allow yourself to be angry or depressed or any other negative emotion when you find you are wrong about whatever it is you are wrong about – learn from it. Accept it. Then let it go, and move forward.
You are not alone when it comes to being wrong sometimes. Knowing this, you can always find support to help deal with the matter, and then change it.
What do you do when you find you are wrong about something?
This is the two-hundred sixth entry in my series. These weekly posts are ideas and my personal experiences in walking along the path of life. I share this journey as part of my personal desire to make a difference in this world along the way.
Thank you for joining me. Feel free to re-blog and share.
The first year of Pathwalking, including some expanded ideas, is available in print and for your Kindle.
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