How far are you willing to go to prove what you know is right?
To what magnitude will you exercise your authority on the quest for justice?
Are you willing to risk all you’ve got to prove to someone that their opinion, ideas, behavior or manner of approach is wrong?
Is being right more important to you than being happy?
In as much as it is expedient to seek justice and ascertain the truth, it is also prudent for us to examine what we thought is the truth.
In most cases the truth is relative. Reality is not truth, and truth is not reality. Reality can be true, but it is not necessarily so most of the time.
Sometimes what we are willing to sacrifice our happiness and longtime friendship to prove are not worth it, but we fight against this fact until it is done on us, until the situation has gone haywire, before we come to terms with the real truth of the matter.
Our perception of the truth is governed by our environment and nurtured by reality, which we mistake for the truth, majority of the time.
I read a funny story that puts this article in a better perspective.
A woman was rushing to the airport, she bought a cookie along the way and puts it in to her bag, sat patiently at the waiting arena as she was reading her book, she was so engrossed in the book, she brought out her cookie, with her eyes fixed on the book, she picks a cookie to eat and a man seated beside her reached for the pack of the cookies and picked one for himself, she was irritated by the man unrequired confidence and arrogance, she was so annoyed by the sight of the man, but the man seems not to bother, he smiled as he reached for another cookie, the woman couldn’t just believe such level impetus, she struggled to get her attention back to the book, as she skirmishes through the pages, with the disturbing thought of this arrogant thief, seated beside her. They were trading turn till it remained one last cookie, at least courtesy demand that the man will be polite to leave the last piece of cookie for the owner, but that seems not to be the case. The proverbial honour among the thieves seems not to be applicable in this scenario. The man reached for the last cookie, broke it in to two, and gave the woman half with a warming smile, as he ate the other.
This woman became livid, felt like punching his four front teeth out his jaw, as she was lost in to such abysmal thought; she was called for her flight. She was seated in her plane, feeling relieved of what seems to be the worst day of her life. She reached for her back, to her sheer bewilderment, she saw her pack of cookie untouched, it dawned on her, that the so called arrogant thief was her all along, for it was the man cookie that she has been eating, and not hers. She felt mortified embarrassed and remorseful for her attitude, but she can no longer go back to apologize to the man in question. No wonder mark twain said “it is not what we don’t that gets us into trouble, it is what we know for sure that just ain’t so”.
The lesson here is this, most times what you saw is not what it is, perception is always a dangerous element, that’s why in dealing with people, you have to be very careful how you fight for what you believed to be the truth.
It is always advisable to give it a second thought, it cost nothing in being right and doesn’t have to prove it. Someone once said “if you spend all your time proving why you’re right, you will end up being wrong. The Holy book affirm this thought, “he that is slow to anger is wise”
In this 21st century, human relation is a skill you must learn, it has become imperative to know how to relate with people. Always remember TRUTH IS NOT REALITY, AND REALITY IS NOT TRUTH.
UNSINKABLE PEN 