Having said this, I do the next wrong thing more often than not. And in the moment, I am certain I am making a good choice. The scariest times have been when I feel that I have gotten quiet, prayed, and know why I am taking whatever action.
And then things go terribly wrong. And, honestly, and if you have lived at all you must have had times like this “going wrong”? Sometimes right action causes rifts in relationships, causes things to look terribly wrong before they look right again…
So. Here is a tempest in a tea cup from my week that has a good ending:
I had a charged discussion with my dear mom this week. (Seriously, my sister private messaged me saying, “What are you doing? and Why are you doing this? as things were going down in a group chat between my mom, sister, and me).
And she found the courage to call me. And we kept talking. And talking. And listening. Until we started to laugh again. Neither of us backed down. Neither of us changed our mind or the other’s mind. Also, both of us stayed calm, loving, careful, patient, and considerate. I think both of us were willing to be wrong.
And — pre social media, pre messenger, I would have likely convinced myself that she "started it.” :) But now, thanks to the fact that absolutely everything is recorded, I know I did. I know that I was really overwhelmed.
I think one of the keys to “doing the next right thing” is humility.
Knowing that there are days, there are weeks, there are times when you thought you were doing the next right thing and you were wrong. And you won’t die if you admit that and re-calibrate (unless you are in
Ozark and no, I don’t think that is a spoiler alert).
So: When was the last time you “knew” you were doing the next right thing and it turned out to be absolutely the next “wrong” thing?
What could you learn from that?