Would you rather be right than happy?

Most people would say “Of course not!”, but this reality plays out all the time. Sadly it usually plays out in our personal lives.

There are all kinds of things we like to be right about. Being right about how to load the dishwasher doesn’t make you happy when they are done “wrong” or when you redo them so they are “right”. Unfortunately how we interact with our children is often example of this. Imagine little Susie has a scratch she neeeeeds a Band-Aid. You know she doesn’t but you give her one anyway. All of a sudden all the pain of the injury is gone (what do they put in band-Aids anyway?). She’s happy, you’re happy and life moves on. Now imagine you hold firm that there is no need for a Band-Aid. The scratch turns into a mortal wound, you are the bad parent and you both walk away feeling deeply wounded. But you get to hold on to being right.

Each person is different. You should look at your “right or happy” issues are. Who bears the brunt of these issues? Is it your partner, children, siblings, parents. co-workers, or friends? How do you feel when you are right? Is it superiority, authority, happiness? Why do you need to feel this way with these people?

In the end being right can wind up feeling pretty hollow. When you find yourself in a “right or happy”dilemma try to understand what is really going on and what you are trying to achieve. Hopefully, happy will start to win out over right.