We’ve all been in situations in which what we thought we knew turned out to be in error. Oops. This can be embarrassing when ‘reality’ is brought to light. I suspect the only time of profound response is when we set ourselves up as the authority (fill in the blank). At times, ‘authority’ may not be relevant when the initial assumption is in error. These are the times that if we stick in our heels, we may end up eating our …
There’s a wonderful ad series by Geico showing a variety of situations in which one person is surprised about the time/cost it takes for acquiring insurance and is immediately responded to – ‘everyone knows that’. This initiates the first person to say… but did you know… And then the ad pokes fun at the ‘everyone knows that’ comment, which always astounds the second person. Point: maybe what everyone knows isn’t complete. Then again, simply because it’s a ‘known’ does that make it always right in all situations? Probably not.
Perhaps the more ‘important’ question is – what do you do when you discover that what you thought is not what is? You have many options – blithely continue, hastily change, be surreptitious, see if you can find a handy scapegoat, stop and reassess. Which is the mostly likely MO for you, or is there another reaction? Regardless, now what do you choose to do? It’s more than obvious that you can’t continue, a change is inevitable.
This is the time that your character, the type of person you are is on display and being strong and courageous is challenged and defined by your actions. I do realize that for some, the definition of ‘strong’ is being right or getting your own way… always. Not the right definition or application of strong. I would contend that strong and courageous definition is an internalized principle set that is lived out in our day to day reactions and interactions. This set is always in a state of refinement and we do choose to act on this… or not.
