What is the emotional cost of being right?

More simply put, would you prefer to be right or happy?

Okay, before you say “both” (I know 😄), let’s define “being right.” In this context, it means holding a position and needing someone else to be wrong.

Here’s a quick story about that line.

Years ago I stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere off I-80—bathroom covered in graffiti, except for one clean spot. I pulled out a big, no-nonsense gold marker—the kind that actually looks like real gold—and wrote: Would you prefer to be right or happy?

Weeks later, I passed through again. Everything had been cleaned… except that one line, still there in gold.

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