Image by Joyseph (license).

The feeling of “I am right and they are wrong” - the feeling of being right, may get yourself stuck in that position and not being able to see or accept that there might be another way.

Now, this question might seem simple enough to answer.

But that isn’t the point. The point is if you are prepared to actually ask yourself this question continually. If you are able to be wrong (and not just say that you are able to).

Your ego wants to protect itself. And so you dismiss the possibility that you could be wrong to preserve and keep your image of, for instance, a smart guy/gal intact. People can go to some lengths to do this as you have probably noticed, as you or someone else refuses to accept that they are wrong even though everyone else knows it.

During one course I had in college about the nature of science our teacher said something like this: “scientists must die for a new paradigm to be accepted”. Meaning that a new theory that changes how scientists view the world won’t get a real foothold until the old professors and such people with much influence are either retired or dead.

Sometimes being right is so tied up in someone’s identity that if s/he would be wrong that would mean that s/he didn’t know who s/he was. So not being right is of course refuted fiercely.

Going from negative to positive.

The need to be right can, for example, make it hard to switch from a very negative viewpoint to a positive one. You are so invested in your negative viewpoint and being right that you resist the possibility there can be a more positive viewpoint. A point of view that would be a lot more beneficial to you than the current negative one.

What you focus on is to large degree what you can see. And what you think and how you behave is usually what is reflected in the world and people around you. You can only see and interact with life and your world through the lens that is covering your eye. You need to change the lens to be able to actually see another version of reality.

As Wayne Dyer says:

“Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in hostile world. Same world.”

Unlocking yourself.

Yes, you can get a lot of positive emotions from being right.

But these brief emotional highs can also block your from even greater rewards and growth in life. They can imprison you in yourself and your beliefs about the world.

So ask yourself: would I rather be right or be happy?

This allows you to be a more flexible person, to analyse your beliefs, to see how you are standing in your own way and to correct yourself in various situations.

There is much freedom to be found when you can let go of the need to be right. It makes you feel so much lighter. I highly recommend giving it a try.