Would You Rather Be Right or Happy?

A Course in Miracles asks, "Would you rather be right or happy?"  It's really amazing how many people choose right over happy and then wonder why they aren't happy.

Sometimes you are right but you insist everyone else knows you are right rather than being happy and just knowing it yourself.  I see this all the time in work situations but my favorite example is from when my kids were young. They would decide to have a race, and the one who came in second would say that he won. The one who knew he came in first would get so upset and angry because he knew he won and yet his brother insisted that he won. I remember saying, "Did you come in first? Do you know the came in first? Does that mean you won?" Of course the answer would be, "Yes, I won!" Then my response would be, "Then what difference does it make what he says? Why are you getting so upset?"

Too often we search outside of ourselves for recognition rather than just knowing what we know and being happy. Nobody else needs to know what our accomplishments are all the time, we need to just be happy in our own knowing. Of course that does mean we need to recognize and acknowledge ourselves.

The other thing that happens when you insist that you are right (even if you are) is that the other person often becomes defensive and uncooperative.  Hard feelings often emerge. Most times, it doesn't really matter.  There is no need to correct people when they make a mistake, it only makes them feel bad.  (I do recognize there are times when you do need to correct someone if safety is an issue or because you are training them but those happen less often.)

Today, look for the opportunity to choose to be happy!