PRESSING THE WRONG BUTTON

My three-year-old daughter claims that "she pressed the wrong button" and apologized for making a mistake or making a minor infraction. I don't know about you but I find this to be very apt.

We have a lot of buttons in front of us all the time. We try to press the right button but that doesn't mean that we do it with 100% accuracy. We do the balancing act: searching for understanding in light of uncertainty and complexity, looking for commonalities and broad-based agreements, pursuing the high road. 

Understanding the right cues and contexts, and ensuring we practice empathy, active listening, and regard for others is always good at any situation. But sometimes, we misread people and situations, we overreact or become stone-walled, or sometimes react badly with the slightest provocation. 

Making mistakes is part of our humanity in the context of many buttons. We have to stop incriminating ourselves, instead treat mistakes as a vehicle for learning and evolution. It is never fatal unless, it becomes an ego issue. 

Defiance is better left to more substantive issues of the day.