What would you rather have...

know that you are right and have everyone (almost everyone) think you are wrong
or
know that you are wrong, and have every one think you are right?

Yes I know you would want to be right, know you are right, AND have everyone think you are right too. Why not? But life just does not comply with your wishes that often now does it? So... back to the two options....How do you choose the right answer? Is the right answer the easier one or the harder one? Do you follow the path of least resistance or do you go against the grain of who you are to reinvent yourself?

Admittedly the biggest advantage of having everyone think you are right is a huge ego boost. People praise you, say you are so good or smart or something and treat you better that they would have otherwise and that should make life easier. Or would it? Would it not then give you the guilt of knowing you are not as good or as correct as they think you are? It ruined Lady Macbeth.

Of course, in my experience that is not a downer for some people who have absolutely no concept of self-analysis, and since they never look at themselves or their actions in an honest critical light, it does not affect them, so for such people perhaps it is better to be thought good of than being good on the inside.

I know that that would never work for me, I would have to set the record straight so then for me the easier choice is to actually do the right thing and if other people do not get it or choose to think ill of me then, teach myself to deal with it.

But the trouble is that even that is easier said than done. I realize that it is all fine and dandy to say my family doesn't get me, but what would you do if the law was after you and if you and the powers that be did not see eye to eye? What if you could not prove your innocence, and were sentenced because you said, hey I know I am right, the hell with what the judge thinks. Well, doesn't work does it. We know that history is full of incidences when innocent people were condemned and sentenced because the law did not accept their defense, or people who when faced with a hostile biased jury, just gave up, and did not even bother putting up a defense - why give create an illusion of legitimacy when it was all a sham. I get that. And yet, I know that it hurts like hell, to hear people say bad things about you.

Only I don't know what you can do different? I don't know whether it is so much of a choice after all. People will think what they want to, there is not much that you can do to make them think different. If they like someone they will go ahead and like every thing that person does and if they don't then they will find a fault with everything that person does. For example if someone is hosting a dinner party and specifically tells you to not bring anything, and lets say you still cook something and bring it. What happens, if they like you they will be all grateful and think ' oh how sweet, she still brought me something.' and if they don't like you, they will think ' oh what a show off, i told her to not bring anything, but she just has to do whatever she wants.' You see there is no way to win these things.

All my life I thought the answer was obvious to me, I thought I would much rather know that I am right and then the hell with what anyone else thinks. And I know I have lived that way for the most of my life. Only lately the choice came on a very huge scale, where a lot and I mean a lot of people think I am wrong and I am forced to live with that.

And it is just not easy, in fact, it is so hard that there are days when i genuinely think life would have been so much easier if everyone thought i was right and then the hell with being actually right or wrong. हाँ, हाँ, मैं फिर एक नए पतन कि कगार पर हूँ...

Anyways, it has gotten me to think about the old dilemma gain, and i have been trying to list out why the choice was obvious to me in the first place.