To Be or Not To Be ...Right

 

"Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end."

 

 "Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom."

- Solomon, Proverbs

 

How many times have you heard someone ask the question, “You just always have to be right, don't you?” Whether directed at you or not, surely you have heard the scorn in the voice of the inquisitor as he or she ends an argument, not understanding the point nor perspective of the other person. Usually by this time both sides have given up on the other joining their point of view, and neither thinks that the other is indeed right.

The question, however, at hand today, is not whether or not you must always be right, but rather do you seek to be right? Personally, I have no trouble to admit that I desire to always be right, but whether that in fact turns out to be the case may be another story entirely. Someone who “has to be right” sees things only one way: theirs. Someone who “seeks to be right” takes in all options, even if the idea came from someone else. Someone who has to be right tells you what they think. Someone who seeks to be right asks you what you think. In my experience, people who have to be right look for wrong, but people who seek to be right look instead for what is indeed right and true.

Thomas Edison, inventor of the incandescent light bulb, is often used as in illustration in persistence. Something else we may learn from him is what a man who seeks right does. He changes. When his first filament shorted out, apparently he designed and built a different one. Imagine for a moment if he only tried the same design again. Perhaps there was dust on it. Maybe the wire had corrosion. His assistant surely did something to cause its failure! No, Mr. Edison would have gone nowhere with these sort [these sort, this sort, or these sorts?] of conclusions – and you and I would be reading this by candlelight. What did this man do in order to make progress? He had to make a change, even if one at a time. Eventually, in this case, the correct solution surfaced, and in our daily lives, minor corrections of errors may ultimately result in better conduct and character.
What do you need to change? Ask a friend to think about it and give you his or her opinion. The answer given may be hard to accept, but then again, do you seek to be right, or do you have to be?

Standard Excellence
Topic: Foundation
Excellence is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. An excellent performer stands out among others, and may be noticed easily. In older times something could be referred to as “an excellence,” that is an excellent quality or feature. We get the English word from Latin, where the word meant originally “to surpass.” Something that is excellent surpasses what would otherwise be compared on the same level. Products that surpass set market trends. People that surpass become icons and show up in history books. Excellent ideas win arguments, stifle competition, sell books, and improve lives. Excellence makes the difference between ordinary and luxury.

Most vehicles ordinarily come with a certain array of equipment. Generally speaking, the brand name dealer won't sell a vehicle without some essential parts, such as an engine, transmission, tires – the usual. After all, by definition a car needs to have at least four wheels and an engine. In modern culture, we have come to expect certain features on our everyday transportation that perhaps the Flintstones would have envied. However, even with all this comfort afforded, a few less functionally important items form a sharp contrast between transportation and luxury. Power windows on a Pinto might have been an option at some point, but a Mercedes far surpasses that level, coming standard with power just about anything you can think of.

For vehicles, yesterday's options have become today's standard equipment. It seems that these high-class brands pave the way for tomorrow, but somehow manhood is seemingly bound for the other direction. Days gone by have held such chivalrous expectations like a man holding the door for a lady and youths addressing their seniors as “Sir” and “Ma'am,” but today, these manners are scarcely even heard of in some places. No one would tolerate a vehicle whose engine started 70% of the time or didn't break down four out of five trips, but somehow a D+ in manners has become impressive. Still, there is a class of men in this world that seeks to surpass his fellow. Sometimes they are referred to as gentlemen, well-mannered, noble, but whatever you call them, they aren't hard to spot, because with these outstanding individuals, excellence comes standard.