Lessening our stake in being right

If opinions are not something we are terribly precious about, that’s a huge advantage.

Not having to be right gives us agility.

Brown’s book on emergent strategy puts it best:

The easier being wrong us for us, the faster we can release our viewpoint, and the quicker we can adapt to changing circumstances. Adapting allows us to know and name needs in real time, as opposed to wishing and resenting what others don’t give us.

Not having to be right also gives us freedom. Lessing our stake in winning the intellectual gold medal is a profound relief.

Instead of trying to change people who don’t think they have a problem, we can surrender our ego’s insistence on having the solution.

Instead hanging our esteem on how well we influence other people’s opinions, we can decide that feeling peaceful is more important than forcing our views on others.

Instead of vomiting over all the silent moments with our brilliance, we remain silent even when our egos want to scream.

Another benefit to not having to be right is, it sends us on an adventure.

Schultz writes in her profound book about the margin of error:

Being wrong is hard and humbling and sometimes even dangerous, but in the end, it is a journey and a story.

Who really wants to stay at home and be right when you can don your armor spring up on your steed and go forth to explore the world?

Agility, freedom and adventure. Being wrong never felt so right.

And so, for once, let’s holster our fingers. Because jumping into someone else’s life with both feet and a bunch of opinions is rarely the best use of our energy.

Judgment might give us a sense of being correct, but does that really move us forward?

Fuck winning. Fuck saving face. Fuck denying, deflecting and doubling down on our beliefs just to uphold our precious integrity.

We are not gods. We live in this incomprehensible circus of a world that changes its appearance faster than a supermodel on the catwalk, and we’re all just guessing.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
Are you assuming that you are basically right, basically all the time, about basically everything?