Are You RIGHT or Are You WRONG?

Have you ever been absolutely right about something? I mean, a b s o l u t e l y right! Even though the sun is shining, you carry an umbrella because you just know it’s going to rain. And you’re right, it rains!  But what about those days or moments when things seem to unravel, when things become worse than having a bad hair day, when being right doesn’t happen!

I felt like that a few weeks ago after a good workout at the gym. I had said goodbye to my friend and turned to open my locker, but the combination didn’t work. Taking a second to study the lockers, I realized, Of course, I’m at the wrong locker. I looked around hoping no one had noticed my silly mistake.  However, a few seconds past again before I realized that no, I was not at the wrong locker. After two more attempts to swirl around my lock unsuccessfully, I determined that there had to be something wrong with the lock itself. Seven, eight, nine more times I tried the combination and nothing happened! Being confident that I was right, I had no need to check the numbers. Besides, they were stored in a very safe place… in my wallet in the locked locker. But that was okay. I knew my lock combination!

With my mounting frustration becoming evident, another gym member took pity on me. She offered to help by trying the combination while one of the gym employees hovered nearby, sheepishly asking if she needed to get the cutters.

“No,” I assured her with much confidence. “I have the right combination.”

But even after the “good samaritan’s” attempt to help, the lock would still not open.

“Are you sure the numbers are right?” both women asked, almost simultaneously.

Of course they’re right, I wanted to shout, but didn’t. After all, I’d been using the lock for three months. How could the numbers (or I!) be wrong? Eventually, they both left me to my quandary.

Not many moments later, I finally gave in, sought out the gym employee and watched helplessly as she did her work with the long cutters. The lock fell from the locker and the door opened. When I checked the combination, the numbers were right (I enjoyed a moment of short-lived pleasure in that knowledge), but I had the first two numbers reversed! Later that morning, a trip to Canadian Tire—and parting with $5.63—I had a new lock.

So, what’s the point of this embarrassing admission? I’d like to ask a question, if I may: How do you respond when you believe—without a shadow of doubt—that you’re absolutely right?  Beyond the scenerio of insisting that your “lock combination” is correct, how do you respond when you have a disagreement with another person? You believe that the other individual is definitely wrong and in your mind, he or she needs to apologize. Sounds rather simple, doesn’t it? You’re right and they’re wrong.

But wait a minute…

Let me add a little fly to the ointment: irrefutable evidence suddenly proves you to be wrong! What now? You are faced with the humbling need of saying the two most difficult words in the English language (maybe in any language!): “I’m sorry.” And then the next three words after that: “Please forgive me.” In the first part of James 3:2, the Bible clearly says, “For we all stumble in many ways….”  We can’t get away from it. There will be times when we think we are right, but we will be clearly wrong and we need to act accordingly.

Life is a gift, but it’s a gift with grit, and there will be days when we are going to make mistakes, we are going to “stumble in many ways.” Because mistakes happen. What counts is what we do with them. Will we let our mistakes be our teacher, or will we grit our teeth, dig in our heals and insist on being right?

When it came to my lock combination, no matter how much I claimed to be right, I was clearly wrong and time wasn’t going to change that. I was reminded of something I read somewhere: “Wrong does not become right by virtue of passing time.” No matter how often I paused and waited before trying the combination, my lock would not open. I was clearly wrong. Likewise, when we are faced with the reality of being proven wrong—despite the belief that we are right—time does not change that reality. I’ve learned through living life that it’s easy to mess up and make a mistake, but it takes courage and humility to admit it, to learn from it, to apologize and seek forgiveness if appropriate, and then to move on. Waiting it out, hoping that time will disolve the problem does not erase the mistake.

I do feel rather silly and yes, very embarrassed that I forgot something so simple as my lock combination. But more so, I feel badly that my frustration was witnessed by two strangers. And for that I’m really sorry. I did apologize and we had a good laugh at my silly predicament.

There, now I feel better!

By the way, my new combination is once again written down and stored it in a safe place… on the inside of the tongue of my right running shoe!

Have a good day!!