In the past year I have discovered this "right or happy"and try as often as possible to apply it ,and in the long run I am happier.I have found many times where I "knew" I was right ,I was wrong. It takes an effort to not reply from right but do it from happy and I have found it has made me a better listener.

So I would recommend that a person should try it.

This is in everyday situations small things.to let go of the need to be right.its very...downstream,going with the flow.

peace

Only a few short years ago I really struggled with having to be right. Not in a sense that I was a "know it all" but in a sense that my opinion had to be accepted as truth, especially when the conversation got a little heated.

This happened quite a bit with my dad over the years, and that is why our relationship is a little strained still to this day. Two personalities that were at war with each other and didn't care for the others perspective. We only cared to have our own opinions be the accepted final opinion of truth.

I wasn't consciously aware of it then, but as I look back now, I have come to realize that I was the type that was always waiting to talk instead of listening, absorbing the information, and then coming up with a valuable well thought out response. My ego was pretty much running the show completely and I was on full blown auto-pilot.

Now to my opinion on why I believe we feel the need to be right.

I think it's as simple a looking at the habits of our ego, our environment we grew up in as a kid, the people we shared time with in school and out of school. When grow as a human being in a particular environment, we kind of get the stuck on the default setting of those particular surroundings.

There does come a time though when we grow up and become adults. We then have a conscious choice to make changes if we are not happy with our repetitive habits.

Similar to what Michaela said above, having my perspective come into question by others led to a fear based response which makes you feel threatened and then for me anger presented itself a good portion of the time. The anger response can get out of control and become so unconsciously habitual, it then becomes a dysfunctional but normal part of life.

My change started to occur when I took time to listen, or took a few seconds to evaluate the situation. You could also say that it was just simply getting into the Now moment. When I started to disrupt that very quick signal from the eyes or ears to the brain, even for a few seconds, it gave me a chance decide for myself how I wanted to react instead of being the automatic reactor.

I am a lot better at not feeling the need to be right anymore. I still have my moments, but I sure feel more calm and relaxed when the "comfort zone" of old isn't acting up like it used to. I can also value others opinions for what they actually are....their opinions. There is no need to let another persons opinion affect my life. They have their own way of doing things, and I have mine.

Well, seeing that this question sprung from a post of mine, I suppose I could as well explain myself :)

I am slightly ashamed to say that I feel a certain satisfaction when I am right... :S I don't enter into any argument if I don't know for sure I am right, and when the other person admits it, then, and only then, I Feel Good! I always keep quiet when I cannot win an argument. I suppose it's an Ego thing? It doesn't make me feel proud, mind you! I am working in that aspect of my character through affirmations and meditation.

I could do with some advice. :)

Being right and feeling good are not mutually exclusive.

If someone feels good because they exacted revenge on someone else, I don't call that being right. But if my moral compass steers me towards an action that makes my life better without hurting someone else, or it improves someone else's life in a tangible way, I call that being correct (or at least as right as I can be). And I can feel good about that.

The pursuit of life is all about living your life better today than you did yesterday, about improvement. The notion of improvement implies that, if there are not right and wrong ways to do things, at least there are degrees of effectiveness, and that you can choose between good things today, and better things tomorrow.

What you call being right is really just someone else's moral indignation.

This reminds me of something I heard Wayne Dyer say a few years ago: "Try this on: Say to yourself, I want to feel good."

How very odd that something that you'd think that everyone thinks, believes, etc. would require affirmation. When I heard it, though, I was down. Really down. At the moment I heard it, I did not want to say it.

I gave up trying to understand why I didn't want to say it and just started saying it. No other single thing has made such a consistently powerful difference in my life.

I want to feel good.

Hello...

Personally, if "feeling good" has the potential of leading me towards error and evil, I would prefer "being right". In that case, at least I would have some confidence that I was headed towards truth and goodness instead of error and evil.

Thankfully, from a Biblical perspective, the Scriptures make it clear that it is NOT about man "being right". If it were about man "being right", I would NOT have a great track record! Therefore, the Bible says that it is ALL about GOD "being right". For this reason, you find verses such as:

'Yea, let GOD be true, but every man a liar' [Romans 3:4]

'GOD is not a man, that He should lie' [Numbers 23:19]

'GOD is light, and in Him is no darkness at all' [I John 1:5]

I am tremendously grateful to GOD for having preserved His Words in a BOOK for me to consult before making any personal decisions. Obviously, if you have another belief system, you will not be in agreement with these statements.

I also agree with BridgetJones09. When I am not sure of something, I also would rather keep my mouth shut and do my own personal research before making a declaration. I get into less trouble that way!

Thanks for reading.

Concerned Citizen

People want to be right because being right makes them happy. Show me one person who becomes sad by being right. Often the choices are not (or don't appear to be) mutually exclusive.

I have realised this recently in a work situation - which is still evolving - where I work with someone who is really teaching me how to go with the flow. This person does everything in a way that is exactly opposite my style. I try not to get personally and emotionally involved - and I am still learning. I see a lot of people suffer for the actions of one person.

I know that if I got involved, I could make the physical situation a lot better for everyone at any moment, but then I'd have to pay a high price - my mental peace to start with. I'd be joyful in one aspect that I have made people's lives better, but I'd have much bigger problem because of all the fights and arguments I'd have with the established order. And who knows what's "better" anyway? Maybe the people who are stressed out because of the situation are meant to die young of heart attacks and strokes. Who am I to get in the way?

So nowadays, when I see other people suffer as a result of this person's action, I say to myself "Well, these are tests for them and they have to deal with these for themselves. It's not my job to solve the world's problems". And then mentally I walk away. Not 100% happy, but happier than what any other action would make me.

If on the other hand my mental composition were such that I thrived on confrontation, then I'd have waged a war without a blink of an eyelid.

So coming back to the original point, "happy or right" is not the correct choice. Do whatever makes you feel the least bad. If being right makes you feel good, go for it. Who is to say that's not the right path for you?