From my Perspective: You're Not Always Right … and Neither am I

We all have this notion that things are black and white, right or wrong, or ‘my way is better and your way can’t possibly be right.’

But, what if I told you just because your way works, doesn’t make it, or you, right or wrong? Simply put, it’s what has and does work for you.

People have ways of cooking, parenting, cleaning house and even stacking wood. Everyone believes their way is right, the be-all-end-all. And it might be - for them. But not everyone’s way is the right way for everyone else.

What’s right for you may not be right for me and vice versa. But somehow, down deep, we know that what we’re doing is right for ourselves at that very moment in time, and the real truth of the matter is that we’re doing the best that we can with what we have at any moment in time.

“What we have” consists of our thoughts, past experiences and the desired outcome of whatever the situation is. It could be the way someone was raised, things they were taught and the people they’ve spent most of their time with.

We have laws that tell us right from wrong. For someone like me, who was raised to respect laws and those who enforce them, it gives me a compass to guide me and my actions. Those who were treated badly within some of those laws and systems may have a different viewpoint .

There are some people who can live in the grey area between black and white and seem to thrive just fine. Generally, I am not one of those people. I like things in the black or the white. I personally like the idea of right and wrong. It probably stems from my childhood where I was taught that if you did good, right things, you were considered good and often rewarded for said behavior. But, if you broke the rules or did something “bad” you were considered bad and often punished for your actions.

Don’t get me wrong, I still think there is good and bad, right and wrong, but probably not the same way I thought of those things growing up. In my mind, basic good or right things include smiling at people, helping when and where you can, being respectful (especially to our elders), and doing a good job (whether work-related or task-related). The bad or wrong things in my mind include lying, cheating, stealing and generally being mean or doing things that are against the law or that may hurt someone.

Your ideas of good and bad might look or sound a little different, but for the general population, these are probably pretty universal across the board.

I wrote this column as much for myself this week as anyone else. If we, myself included, could all stop for a moment when someone is doing something we don’t agree with, or going about it in a fashion that isn’t the way we would do things, it would bring about a compassion level not seen in quite some time in our world and daily lives.

Sadly, compassion seems to be the one true thing missing in today’s social, economic and daily living environments. “It’s my way or the highway,” has taken on a whole new meaning.

I guess what I’m really trying to say is that just because I view something as right or wrong doesn’t necessarily make it so - and the same goes for those of you out there reading this.

Try to see things that you view as right or wrong from a different angle and try to gain some knowledge, understanding and maybe even some compassion. The truth of the matter is you aren’t always right… and even though I have various opinions on lots of subjects, that doesn’t make me right either.