Does It Really Matter Who Is Right?

"Did you ever notice how difficult it is to argue with someone who is not obsessed with being right?" -- Wayne Dyer

Many years ago I had a struggle with a roommate over the silliest thing. We lived in an apartment with a mailroom and one key per apartment. My roommate had put the key on her ring and would check the mail when she got home from work each day. That bothered me and I would get so upset over the fact that I couldn’t get my mail when I wanted to, which was when I got home from work about an hour before my roommate. The logical solution I thought would be leaving the key in the apartment so that who ever got home first could get their mail. It did mean an extra trip back up the stairs and out to the mailroom. She was not open to this suggestion and slapped the key down on the table. This “problem” bothered me so much that I would even call home about it. Seems so silly now of course. On one occasion when I was complaining to my mother about it she asked if being right (not that there was a right or wrong answer necessarily here) was more important that our friendship. She said if it was, then by all means fight for it. It quickly put things into perspective and I realized if it was that important for my roommate to carry the mail key, then I could wait an hour for my mail. In any argument we need to ask ourselves if it is more important to be right than to keep the peace and keep a relationship. In most cases I am sure we will find that there isn’t really one person who is absolutely right. From your perspective and from their perspective there are often two right answers.