He's wrong! Let it go...

Being conscientious about being wrong or being scared of being wrong on it's own can be tough. I also find myself wanting to correct people when I think they're wrong. I don't like that aspect of myself either. I guess part of it is I fear what would happen if a mistake goes uncorrected. I am concerned that I am responsible for saying or not saying something, as if someone might say sure, he was wrong, but you knew better and didn't say anything or you should have known better and corrected him. I also wonder if it comes from childhood. To some extent, we were encouraged by teachers to be little informants. So part of this behavior might be the desire to please authority. I also like to think that part of the impulse is the desire for the truth (big t Truth?).

Today in work, a coworker blamed another company for making a mistake. We're a smaller company, so I tend to think we're more likely to be mistaken than they are, which is a bias on my part. Also, we've seen this a couple of times recently, which would make me want to pause and make sure I was right. In other words, if something keeps coming up and my answer is usually the other party is wrong, then I start to wonder what I might be missing. Finally, I looked online, and it looked like they were right. However, this thing I am talking about is not my job. I could still be wrong. The policy my coworker put in place may just be more stringent but not incorrect. Maybe it's more correct. I kept wanting to point it out to my boss, but I questioned my motives about it. I am wondering if this is more my issue. Also, if it truly is a mistake on my coworker's part, I need to trust that my boss will see it.

So now, I am wondering if I am doing the right thing for the wrong reason, the wrong thing for the right reason, the right thing for the right reason, or the wrong thing for the wrong reason. While there is something to be said for doing the right thing when doing the right thing is difficult, there is also something to be said for not making a problem out of something that isn't a problem. There is also virtue in realizing your place and not doing something that will only cause you discord within yourself. I hope I am doing what's best and that this is helping me.