( Taken from the play " Harvey", without permission)
I was in this play in the mid - eighties, as the character " Wilson", the attendant who dragged both Elwood and his sister Vera into the sanatorium.
It is a great play. Elwood is a lush who pals around with Harvey, a 6 foot tall invisible , magical
Rabbit. He is a pookah and only those who he allows, can see him.
The ending scene has Elwood given the choice to take medicine that will stop him from seeing the rabbit forever. Out of love for his sister who detests Harvey ( she CAN see him ) he willingly concedes to take it. The cabbie who brought Elwood in tells everyone in the room that he has taken other people to get this medicine and he then describes the changes in personality it causes. They come happy, friendly and filled with wonder. They leave crabby, critical and cheap. Regular people. " and you know what kind of bastards they are" he ends with...
My sponsor used to ask me if I would rather be right or if I rather be happy? I usually chose " right".
I used to say the only thing worse than being wrong was being wrong and having the other person be right and knowing I'm wrong...
Quite the charmer, right?
I would like to say that those wonderful personality traits I'm speaking of have disappeared and today, I am a pleasant and personable individual...
The problem with that statement is that my Wonderful Wife actually reads my posts, and is unfailingly honest. She would gently correct me and most everyone who reads this blog knows i am a contankerous sort, anyway.
So, no, I guess that I will not say that. Not only would it be untrue but it really is not who I want to be. I am just being honest here. I still sort of like being argumentative and contrary.
Somewhere in between these extremes is what I usually shoot for. As a Christian, I know I should set my sights higher, but one of the traits that hasn't budged much in me is that of being an unflinching realist.
It is not a good combination, wanting to be right to such a degree and being a Christian. There are things in life that are important enough to be unyielding over, but in reality there are fairly few of them.
Many days what is called for most is patience and tolerance; sometimes staying out of unnecessary conflicts is more important than winning an argument. With these ideas, I truly struggle.
About a year ago a wonderful friend posted a simple question regarding a belief that I felt strongly about and held for a long time. It was not a combatative question she asked.
I can debate with the best of them, but when this sweet non judgemental lady asked, I had to stop and look deeply inside myself to answer.
I struggled, back and forth. I read Bible passages and searched for truth, for the first time in a long time, seeking real truth instead of being right. Not so surprisingly, I found a different answer than I thought I would.
I learned more that moment than I had learned in a very long time.
Since that question, I have realized something even more important...
Being wrong is not nearly as bad as being an idiot.
New Years resolutions?!?
To be wrong a little more often.
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