I Was Wrong

 

 

 

I was wrong.

I was wrong.

I was wrong.

I say it often.  I say it easily.  I try to embrace it.  I have finally gotten to a place where I understand that being wrong is a natural and important part of life.

 

Looking back, I see clearly that I spent a lot of time and energy insisting I was right.  I equated being wrong with being weak.  As a woman on Wall Street, I thought I had to know everything and if I was wrong, the jig was up.  As a mom I thought “all knowing” was part of the job description.

 

This position put me on the defensive—all the time!  I was always explaining, avoiding, defending, reasoning or rationalizing my actions.  I could justify anything to make sure it didn’t show me in a poor light.

 

What a production this was!  What a huge energy drain.  And all it was doing was holding me back from being my authentic self.  I was faking it–I couldn’t admit being wrong to myself and I surely wasn’t going to admit it to anyone else.

 

We all know that to err is human.  We also know that our greatest lessons come from our biggest mistakes.  And yet as a society we defend, defend, defend.  We learn it from our families, our elected officials, big business—never being wrong is a cornerstone of the American Way.  Nobody says “I’m sorry, I was wrong.  What can I do to fix it?”

 

So now I understand that being wrong doesn’t change who I am as a person.  I have the same character and integrity after a mistake as I had before it.  I was trying and I messed up.  Fully grasping this allows me to be ok with being wrong.  I try to ‘fess up, apologize if it’s warranted, learn my lesson and move on.  I am happy to set this example for my kids in the hopes that they learn the lesson earlier than I did.

 

So, do you want to be right?  Or do you want to be free?

 

For many years I had to be right.

 

But guess what?  I was wrong.

 

 

Are you spending too much time insisting you’re right?  Are there places where you could let go and be ok with being wrong?  How do you think it could change you? Please leave a comment below.

 

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net <http://www.freedigitalphotos.net>