I mean, it’s not like it’s unclear why we hate being or feeling wrong… because, in many ways, it makes sense. Out on the savanna, being right equaled being alive. A right prediction, a right memory, a right deduction, eating the right food, it all meant we survived for another day. A wrong prediction, a wrong snack, a wrong turn, all could lead us to being eaten or otherwise not surviving for another day.
No wonder we were given such a potent euphoric reward for being right!
The thing is, though, we don’t live in the savanna anymore. Not everything is insta-kill or be killed. Not everything needs to be run through that filter. And when we let our system of “being right” run amok on autopilot, we often lead ourselves down unhelpful, unhealthy, and even, ironically, down paths that are downright dangerous. We can become so attached to being right over everything else that we accidentally screw ourselves, along with our friends, family, communities, and humanity. We hoodwink ourselves into being miserable, into sabotage, and away from the clear and present mind that is necessary for making actual, proper, and lucid, choices.
That is the paradox. Being attached to being right will often lead us instead to the opposite. Which, doubly ironically, also means that being attached to being right lowers our chances of that euphoric reward from being right that we crave so much in the first place. Oops.
When we let go of the savanna attachment and allow ourselves to be present, it gives us all the freedom to shine. We can walk down the middle path, wending our way forever forward towards the sunny uplands of connectedness, fortune, and the more perfect futures we all crave.
Lynx Thoughts 