Self Righteousness

Recently a friend that reads my blog said he thought I came across "self righteously” in my posts. I told him he gave me a great topic for my blog. I found the feedback interesting since that’s the furthest away from what I want my blog to be.

Self righteousness is something everyone has, the trick it to recognizing when we’re choosing to stand in that self righteousness. When I recognize it, I have the choice to continue standing in it or I can choose to stand outside of it.

I have learned there is no power when I choose to stand in it. When I am being self righteousness, it shuts down all communication. Think about it, if I’m choosing to stand in it, I’m right… everyone else is wrong. There’s no room for me to accept someone else’s view point or perspective. Communication is basically dead.

It’s easy to recognize someone else standing in it. It’s like talking to a brick wall, their not open to anything because they’ve determined their right and the world around them is wrong. When I recognize someone is in this space, I leave the conversation or situation. I give myself and them time to think about what happened and hopefully learn from it.

Think about the examples through history of the most self righteous people. They were so self righteous they didn’t just kill off the communication; they literally killed off the people that threatened their self righteousness the most.

James Wilkes-Booth was “right” and Abraham Lincoln was “wrong”. Mr. Wilkes-Booth entered the theater that night to take the life of the man that he perceived to be wrong. Think how this country may have been impacted further if James Wilkes-Booth would have stepped off his “self-righteous” stool and opened himself up to a different perspective?

Lee Harvey Oswald was “right” and John F. Kennedy was “wrong”. In Dallas on a sunny afternoon in November 1963, Mr. Oswald took the life of someone he perceived to wrong. Think how this country once again could have been impacted positively or negatively if Mr. Oswald wouldn’t have pulled that trigger?

James Earl Ray was “right” and Martin Luther King, Jr. was “wrong”. In 1968 at his motel room in Memphis, TN the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. walked out onto the balcony where Mr. Ray was waiting. Mr. Ray took the life of a man that was changing the face of a nation. Mr. Ray couldn’t step off his self righteousness to explore other possibilities.

True power is recognizing self righteousness stepping outside of it to explore other views, perspectives, another “right” way. I am a human being so am I perfect at this? The answer is no, however I work at it daily.

I love learning about myself and why I do the things I do and why I get the results I get in life. When I post it’s to show my perspective on what ever I am experiencing. It’s not “right” and it’s not “wrong” it’s just simply my experience and my perspective or view on it. I am always open for feedback, without it how can I grow?