The only way to be right, consistently, is if we admit when we are wrong and then adjust our beliefs and behaviors.
No one is right about everything.
Expecting others to be is unreasonable and expecting ourselves to be is arrogance.
The choice we must make really comes down to what we do when, not if, we are wrong about something.
If we refuse to see, to admit, and to accept our errors, we are committing ourselves to not only ignorance, but regression.
There is no such thing as neutrality.
If we are not getting better, we are getting worse.
We are either growing, evolving, and improving or we are devolving, regressing, and deteriorating.
Our ability to improve is inextricably linked to our willingness to admit that we were wrong.
We cannot make progress if we do not admit our mistakes, change our minds, and change our actions.
Being right is a fluid state wherein we must act as if we are while remaining open to the possibility that we are not.
Holistic Budo: As it is in budo, so too it is in life. As it is in life, so too it is in budo.
Robert Van Valkenburgh is co-founder of Taikyoku Mind & Body and Kogen Dojo where he teaches Taikyoku Budo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
All photos by Robert Van Valkenburgh unless otherwise noted.
Follow Robert Van Valkenburgh and Holistic Budo on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, and LinkedIn.
If you found this post helpful or meaningful in some way, please feel free to Share, Comment, and Subscribe below.