Being right all the time is pretty fun. I mean, maybe not all the time, but most of the time. I mean, who likes to be wrong?

I’m happy to report (with no smugness at all, haha), that when I am wrong, even though it feels horrible, I’m pretty good at taking responsibility for it. Sometimes right away, sometimes not so quickly, but I usually come around.

Though I have a pretty good track record for admitting my wrongdoings and boneheadedness (if that’s not a word, it sure is now!), there are plenty of times where I really and truly think that I’m right, and don’t even realize that I might be wrong. It’s times when I may judge someone’s appearance when they walk by me on the street. Times when I’m talking to someone about a subject I’m an “expert” in and keep uttering the words, “Yup, I know. Yup, I know,” obnoxiously (I hate when I do that. “I know” are easily two of the most dangerous words). It’s times when I’m talking to someone and I stop listening to them because I’m too busy preparing my rebuttal or my one-up response to what they are saying.

(I’m an imperfect human, friends. Now you know.)

I was reading a book on the couch the other day when I read a passage that cut through me like a knife. It was one of those moments when you put the book down and look around, just to make sure no one can see you and your big scary secret, exposed for all to see.

The passage read:

“Richard Bandler suggested that one of the major blocks to creativity was the feeling of knowing you are right. When we think we are absolutely right, we stop seeking new information. To be right is to be certain, and to be certain stops us from being curious. Curiosity and wonder are at the heart of all learning. Plato said that all philosophy begins in wonder. So the feeling of absolute certainty and righteousness causes us to stop seeking and to stop learning.”

Can I get an amen?

Consider this your reminder for the day. A reminder to leave a little space for curiosity, for creativity, and for the possibility that maybe – just maybe – you don’t already know (even when you’re certain that you do).

Your friend,

Lauren
xxx