June 19
A Small Correction
We have told someone the wrong meeting time. It is an ordinary mistake, easily corrected. Yet we hear ourselves explaining that the schedule used to be different, that nobody mentioned the change, that anyone could have made the same error. By the time we finish, the other person may wonder why getting the correct time required so much conversation.
Promptly admitting a mistake gets practice in small places. These moments reveal how much protection we believe our reputation needs. An accurate correction does not require us to become careless about facts or indifferent to how we affect others. It simply lets the useful information arrive without a defense attached. There is relief in discovering that a mistake need not become a hearing on our character. Often the person would be quite satisfied to know when the meeting starts. We are the ones trying to settle something larger.
What am I afraid a small admission will make someone believe about me?
The corrected time is enough.
For the A.A. nerds: Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, Step Ten.