John Y’s Musings from the Middle: A Teaching Moment

Obviously!

When my son was about 11 years old we were in a heated debate about something utterly trivial and I stopped us and decided this could be a great “teaching moment.”

“In life, Johnny,” I started, “We often have to decide, Do we want to be right about every little thing–even silly things– or do we want to be happy.”

I paused.

“Which would you rather be?” I asked.

Johnny shot back “Both!”

I said, “No. You can’t do that. You have to chose one….Not both. Which would it be?”

Johnny, dug in and was trying to simultaneously make a point and get the correct answer. “Well, Dad, I’d rather be right, obviously.”

“No. No…no, no, no. That’s not the right answer. You’d rather be happy.”

Johnny snapped back, “Maybe you’d rather be happy. I’d rather be right. Being right makes me happy. So I do get both.”

I haven’t checked back to see if he’s modified his position on this issue but think I will this weekend.