Do you want to be happy or do you want to be right? – as the popular saying goes
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Every time we establish some sort of communication, be it in-person, online, via telephone or email, we’re almost always expressing our point of view about something, which, to a greater or a lesser degree, will never completely coincide with the perspective of the person with whom we are communicating.
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Conflicts of perceptions and discussions thereon make up what we call “freedom of expression;” behaviour that characterises democratic systems and constitutes the maximum representation of the exertion of our precious individuality.
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However, in practice, we observe Humanity engaged in an endless discussion, with anyone and everyone, in order to impose their point of view, which, of course, is the only correct one (right?).
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We fight with our parents, our children, the traffic warden, the driver of the car in front, the cashier at the bank, the flight attendant, our friends and colleagues, in an endless discussion, with the sole purpose of applying justice. Or, rather, what we consider to be just.
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Without changing our mindset, at some point, we’ll be in conflict with eight billion humans, whose understanding of things will always be, to a greater or lesser degree, different to ours.
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And remember, that it’s always up to the more civilised party to initiate reconciliation. It’s up to us to decide to choose this path, negotiating with the millions of versions of “right” that differ from our own, in favour of establishing and maintaining precious and such badly needed good relationships between humans.