March 24
Being Corrected
A small correction can take up a large amount of space inside us. Somebody points out the wrong date or an overlooked expense, and we hear a verdict on our intelligence. We explain how busy we were, identify someone else's mistake, or keep returning to the incident long after everyone has moved on. The original problem could have been fixed in a minute. Defending our image takes much longer.
Humility may give the correction its proper size. We made an error; someone noticed; the information is useful. There may be no larger meaning. Even an awkwardly delivered correction can contain something we need, though we are free to address genuine disrespect separately. We do not lose everything good about ourselves by acknowledging one wrong detail. A little accuracy can spare both us and the other person an argument neither of us needed to have.
What larger accusation do I hear inside an ordinary correction?
The date is corrected; the conversation can move on.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Five, pp. 58–59.