I would rather prove myself wrong than wonder if I could have been right

Whenever I am trying to improve a situation, I am faced with a choice: do I continue doing the same thing that is currently producing mediocre results with the hope that it will eventually pay off, or do I try something that could be unfavorable but also has the potential to be incredibly beneficial?

I am always trying to improve things, whether it is my class, my school, or lately, my own life. With the help of a friend on a canoe trip, we conjured up a phrase that adequately describes my own perspective on what to do in this situation:

“I would rather prove myself wrong than wonder if I could have been right.”

If we jump in a canoe at a small creek in my backyard during high waters, can we take it for 40 miles or will we just be lost, tipped, stranded, wet, and miserable? I would rather prove myself wrong than wonder if I could have been right.

If we bust through these rapids up ahead, can we make it without tipping the canoe? I would rather prove myself wrong than wonder if I could have been right.

If we wrapped potatoes in aluminum foil and put them in the coals, would they be warm in the morning? It turns out, if they are too close to the coals, they get cooked like a burnt potato chip. This is very unfortunate when all you brought were 6 potatoes for a two day canoe trip, but I would rather prove myself wrong than wonder if I could have been right.

I bet you know my answer to the following questions:

If I spend more time working on unit plans than grading, will I see better results in student achievement?

If I show up to a State Board of Education meeting and present my concerns, will anybody listen to the idea that I am proposing?

If I stop teaching for a year and go on sabbatical, will I develop a whole new skill set that will increase my ability to teach and lead in a school?

If I turn off my cell phone for long intervals of time, will it help me stay focused on important work?

If I create a blog, can I think of enough relevant ideas to post continually over a whole year?

Ask yourself in a situation: what is the worst thing that could happen? If you have the proper perspective toward life, you will realize that “the worst thing that could happen” usually isn’t too bad. I don’t gamble, but I know this: when the risk is low and the benefits are high, put your money down! If you are facing huge benefits versus minimal loses, you should make the leap.

This perspective is utterly useless if you don’t learn from your mistakes. If you fail to learn from your mistakes, you are going nowhere, and you are being a moron. I don’t want you to be a moron, so have the proper perspective: you must have a desire to learn from what you did wrong. I enjoy proving myself wrong because it teaches me what to do next time.

Sometimes, people disagree with what I choose to do. We are talking about “big-picture” stuff here, like “should I stop teaching for a year and go on sabbatical, or should I stay at my school and continue teaching?” Everybody has an opinion. Everybody has an idea. You know what I do? I do what I think I should do. I don’t try to make my principal happy. I don’t try to make my students happy. I don’t try to make my family, friends, neighbors, uncles, cousins, the gas attendant, my high school teacher, my girlfriend, my landlord, or my pet dog happy. I make the choice that I think is right. I will listen to all these people, but in the end, I make the choice that I know I need to make.

It could turn out that I have made a completely erroneous decision, and it will have a negative impact. Well, it wouldn’t be the first mistake I made, and I will be smarter next time. I will reevaluate my process of discernment and learn how to choose rightly, as opposed to learning how to choose something based off of how others react. The former is a much better skill set to posses.

Finally, we need to analyze the last part of the phrase: “wondering if I could have been right.” I learned from an early age: there is no band-aid for regret. You can cover up most mistakes that you make, but regret? Nobody can kiss that wound and make it better. Being wrong is much easier to swallow than regret.

So, what about you? Have you tried to improve ANYTHING lately and been either wrong or right?