When We Both Know We’re Right
My nephew celebrated his 6th birthday at Chuck E. Cheese over the weekend and it didn’t disappoint. Say what you want about Chuck, but he’s got this birthday party hosting thing down to a science.
During the pizza and cake eating portion of the party, my son gave me strict orders to go earn him as many tickets as possible while he was eating.
I took his instructions seriously and went in search of a game that I thought could yield me the highest upside in tickets per minute earned, or payout percentage for folks in the gaming business.
My search quickly led me to Space Warp 66. This was a new one for me, but it was exactly what I was looking for. A skill based game that could be played quickly and had the potential for a lucrative payout.
In the 20 or so minutes it took my son to scarf down his food I had added nearly a thousand tickets to his count, which earned me the highly coveted “Good Job, Dad!” acknowledgement.
We then joined forces and monopolized Space Wrap 66 for the remaining time.
In less than an hour we had amassed enough points to redeem a prize worth up to $14.99. You laugh, but we felt accomplished, considering most kids are limited to choosing between Airheads, Tootsie Rolls, and Neon Bracelets.
Now, we’re riding in the car on our way back from the party and my Wife says, “you know that space game you and Ezra we’re playing? That was hard, you had to turn the knob left to go right, and right to go left!”
I immediately and emphatically responded, “What are you talking about?! You turned the knob left to go left, and right to go right!”
Boom, an immediate impasse! We both knew we were right! Aside from futile attempts to convince each other of our “rightness”, that conversation had nowhere to go.
To avoid escalation we had to move on from the topic, but it was hard because again we both knew we were right. We both wanted the satisfaction of “being right”, but at what cost?
Turns out both of us were right! From my perspective I was turning the top of the knob right (clockwise) to go right, my wife was turning the bottom of the knob left (clockwise) to go right.
This “clashing of perspectives” happens way more often than we think and it is often the underappreciated source of many of our interpersonal conflicts.
In an increasingly “this or that society” it can become too easy to assume others “wrongness” based on our perceived “rightness”.
This is why perspective is an elemental skill of Flourishing.
We must train ourselves to consistently delineate our perspectives from our realities.
We must mindfully work to broaden our perspective.
We must diligently fight our tendency to hold on to our perspectives too tightly.
We must humbly remind ourselves of the likely inaccuracies of our current perspectives.
Stay The Course,
