How many times have you heard me say this?
Do you question yourself? Your own opinions? The things you think you "know?" How frequently do you revise your opinions?
I'm guessing you are mistaken now and then. Do you admit it? To yourself? To anyone else?
This past week, I tried to watch a DVD I borrowed from the library. I had hoped to pick up where I left off with the latest season of Downton Abbey. I know it has already aired on PBS (where you all have no doubt already seen all the latest episodes, so don't ruin anything for me!) but I prefer to wait until the library gets the newest set of DVDs. I have watched the first disc of this newest season and so I ordered the next disc. But when I put said disc into my DVD player, an old episode from another season started playing.
How strange! I must have gotten the second disc of SEASON TWO, is what I thought to myself. I assumed an overworked librarian had misread the label and gave me the wrong disc. So I went straight back to my computer, pulled up my account, and requested the second disc of Season THREE.
But when I examined the disc I had attempted to watch, this time with my glasses ON, the outer cover and the disc itself both read "SEASON THREE" as well as "DISC TWO." Hmmm.... It seemed like a very long shot that both of these materials would be mislabeled, but that is where my mind went next.
Until I returned to my computer yet again, pulled up the library catalogue, and discovered, to my great chagrin, that the season I had started watching was...SEASON FOUR! I had requested a second copy of the WRONG SEASON!
Okay, yes, this is another story of me having a senior moment. We can blame menopause, for sure, as I feel entitled now to use this hormonal havoc as the reason for everything that goes wrong in my life. But the point of my blog today is the not-so-subtle resistance I exhibited in the face of the fact that I had made a mistake.
It got me wondering: how often am I wrong and I simply refuse to see it? I mean, the evidence in this case was very clear. And although I did recognize that the disc I was trying to watch was incorrect, my mind REALLY wanted to blame someone else for the error.
These days, especially in the world of nutrition and dietary science, myths are being revealed as hooey and old "truths" are being turned upside-down at a ridiculous rate. Many of us have avoided butter, bacon, saturated fats, cholesterol, egg yolks, beef, liver, and whole milk for decades when it is now coming to light that these may be some of the healthiest, most nutrient-dense, and best foods for human consumption. As the studies of the Paleo diet start to bring in results, we are learning that this type of eating (giving up grains, sugar, processed foods, etc.) can in fact relieve the symptoms or completely cure numerous diseases. (If you want more information, there are many reliable online sources: google Mark's Daily Apple or The Paleo Mom for two such examples.)
I'd like to think that I have an open mind. I'd like to think that my ego is not so fragile as to need to deny my mistakes. I'm hoping that I can continue to grow and change and absorb new information for many decades to come. And I am also hoping, in the not too distant future, to watch the rest of SEASON FOUR of Downton Abbey.
Just some food for thought!
Do you question yourself? Your own opinions? The things you think you "know?" How frequently do you revise your opinions?
I'm guessing you are mistaken now and then. Do you admit it? To yourself? To anyone else?
This past week, I tried to watch a DVD I borrowed from the library. I had hoped to pick up where I left off with the latest season of Downton Abbey. I know it has already aired on PBS (where you all have no doubt already seen all the latest episodes, so don't ruin anything for me!) but I prefer to wait until the library gets the newest set of DVDs. I have watched the first disc of this newest season and so I ordered the next disc. But when I put said disc into my DVD player, an old episode from another season started playing.
How strange! I must have gotten the second disc of SEASON TWO, is what I thought to myself. I assumed an overworked librarian had misread the label and gave me the wrong disc. So I went straight back to my computer, pulled up my account, and requested the second disc of Season THREE.
But when I examined the disc I had attempted to watch, this time with my glasses ON, the outer cover and the disc itself both read "SEASON THREE" as well as "DISC TWO." Hmmm.... It seemed like a very long shot that both of these materials would be mislabeled, but that is where my mind went next.
Until I returned to my computer yet again, pulled up the library catalogue, and discovered, to my great chagrin, that the season I had started watching was...SEASON FOUR! I had requested a second copy of the WRONG SEASON!
Okay, yes, this is another story of me having a senior moment. We can blame menopause, for sure, as I feel entitled now to use this hormonal havoc as the reason for everything that goes wrong in my life. But the point of my blog today is the not-so-subtle resistance I exhibited in the face of the fact that I had made a mistake.
It got me wondering: how often am I wrong and I simply refuse to see it? I mean, the evidence in this case was very clear. And although I did recognize that the disc I was trying to watch was incorrect, my mind REALLY wanted to blame someone else for the error.
These days, especially in the world of nutrition and dietary science, myths are being revealed as hooey and old "truths" are being turned upside-down at a ridiculous rate. Many of us have avoided butter, bacon, saturated fats, cholesterol, egg yolks, beef, liver, and whole milk for decades when it is now coming to light that these may be some of the healthiest, most nutrient-dense, and best foods for human consumption. As the studies of the Paleo diet start to bring in results, we are learning that this type of eating (giving up grains, sugar, processed foods, etc.) can in fact relieve the symptoms or completely cure numerous diseases. (If you want more information, there are many reliable online sources: google Mark's Daily Apple or The Paleo Mom for two such examples.)
I'd like to think that I have an open mind. I'd like to think that my ego is not so fragile as to need to deny my mistakes. I'm hoping that I can continue to grow and change and absorb new information for many decades to come. And I am also hoping, in the not too distant future, to watch the rest of SEASON FOUR of Downton Abbey.
Just some food for thought!
It's amazing you wrote this post just now, considering how I've been thinking the same things lately. And then, as if God himself intended it, I stumbled upon this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson which I think explains both myself and my blog very well: "I wish to say what I think and feel today, with the proviso that tomorrow perhaps I shall contradict it all." The very definition of the human condition, if you ask me!
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