I'm Always Right

One of the great lessons that I have learned in The Fellowship is that I am not right all of the time. I don't really believe this, of course, but I feel better about myself if I at least pay lip service to the concept. It wasn't helping my inter-personal relationships to walk around crowing about my brilliance while simultaneously pointing out what an idiot you were unless you were in total agreement with my point of view. What was most egregious wasn't even that I told you that you were wrong, it was that I was vociferous about it. I was militant. I didn't listen at all. I attacked.


"We are people who normally would not mix." One of the real strengths of The Program is that all walks of life are represented. When I was drinking, I surrounded myself with people who drank like I did. Runaway alcoholism and rampant drug use seemed normal as long as all of my friends were doing the same thing. There was a very select group of people who were worthy of my companionship. Other vampires, criminals, ne'er do wells, and cellar dwellers, mostly.


Today I have learned how helpful it can be to listen to another's point of view, even if I find it unacceptable. Some of my greatest insights have come from people with whom I disagree on all kinds of topics. Sometimes they are right. There is almost always something true in what they say. I'm so engaged in trying to convert them to my way of thinking that I don't bother to hear what they have to say.

I'm not always right?