Our humble Hollywood actor, Keanu Reeves, once said: “I’m at the stage in my life where I keep myself out of arguments. Even if you tell me 1+1=5. You’re absolutely correct, enjoy.”
Woahhh, I love this kind of mentality. It’s like someone who’s already finished with himself. No need to prove anything, any more or seek anyone’s approval. And coming from Keanu Reeves? That’s pretty deep. We all know his life story. He has faced many tragedies and hardships in his life, but surely, he’s still standing strong. He never gave up on his dream or his compassion, always helping out those in need. By then, his words reflected his wisdom, kindness, and generosity that touched millions of his fans. Honestly, I don’t see myself as a fan, but I truly admire how humble and kind he is. He is an example of a famous guy in the glitzy Hollywood scene, yet he’s cool with ditching all the shine and cutting off non-essential things that don’t make him happy, even when most of us regular folks think it’d be insane to let go of “the most precious things” like piles of cash, mansion and a jet-set life.
Back to what Keanu Reeves said earlier, it’s got a deeper meaning about peace, maturity, and self-preservation. I can tell that he’s trying to say to us that he’s choosing inner peace over being right. He also has reached a level of emotional maturity where he doesn’t feel the need to correct everyone. You know, not everything needs a reaction or debate. And I’m totally on his boat in this matter. Getting into pointless arguments, especially with people who just won’t listen or change their minds, is such a waste of emotional energy. It’s exhausting. Ugh. Seriously, being that person who always feels “right”, and sticking with our opinion just zaps our emotional energy and often pushes us away from others. Our need to be right, or to think others are wrong, just makes people defensive and makes us stressed because we have to clinging to our opinions. A lot of people (me included, not super proud of it) spend way too much time and energy trying to prove we’re right and everyone else is wrong. Honestly, whether we realize it or not, many think it’s our job to show others that their opinions, statements, and points of view are wrong. And here’s the reality check, what’s right or wrong is super subjective, totally depending on each other’s perspective. So, what’s the deal with trying to prove that we’re right and correcting other’s opinion? We think if we do that, people will respect us or maybe learn something from us. But guess what? That’s just plain wrong. It’s all an illusion.
Just think about it, have we ever been corrected by someone and said thank you to them (the ones that always feel right) because they have already shown us that they are right and we are wrong, feel very grateful about it, and we admit that they are so cool. Or, have we ever taken a thank you note from others who debate with us that we are correcting them or making us be the ones who are right and sacrifice others? No? Definitely. Because the truth is, nobody really enjoys being corrected. We all just want to feel like our opinions are respected and honored by others. Being heard is something everyone craves. Those who want to be listened to are often the ones who feel loved and respected. A rare species. On the other side, people who have a habit of constantly correcting others tend to be the ones most likely to be avoided and don’t really have all that love.
I’m not saying we can’t be right sometimes, there are moments when we really need to stick to our opinions. When it comes to things like our beliefs, ideologies, or maybe philosophy, or something that will affecting our life and our well-being, we definitely don’t want to give in. Just like we hear a racial comment or something about key principles of laws and order, it’s super important to hold onto our opinions. By then, “Brave because we are right” is needed at this point. Because it’s essential for us. But honestly, in our day-to-day lives, there are so many things that are not essential for us to debate. It’s not affecting our life and our well-being. The wise way is, it’s time for us to let that bravery slide. It’s not necessary. We don’t need to argue over everything, and often, it’s just not the right call. Why? Like I said before.
So, not trying to prove that we are right can really bring peace to our inner self. It’s like a gentle way of saying: “I’m protecting my peace. If it doesn’t affect my life or my well-being, I’ll let it slide.” Not only will it bring us peace and happiness, but I promise we’ll be way more loved by others, too. Just let people have their moment to be right and feel good about it. Instead of correcting them all the time, let’s just sit back and be nice. It won’t cause us any harm, but on the contrary, it will benefit us. Just trying to be nice and kind people instead of Mr/Mrs. Always right. Others will respect us more than before in a way we never expected. Before we know it, we’ll actually enjoy being part of the conversation and seeing others light up just because we’re listening and letting them feel right! Once again, we don’t need to ditch our own sincere and deep beliefs/philosophies, but maybe from now on, let’s make an effort to give others a chance to be “right” as much as we can! “You do you, I’ll be here enjoying my calm”. Period.
Love,
Kirana
