“Fix your eyes forward on what you can do, not back on what you cannot change.” Tom Clancy
Without going into all the gory details, I believed that a business associate took credit for something I did. I was not happy about it – to say the least – and I expressed my displeasure to a few friends. One of my friends said, “Forgive, but don’t forget.” The problem is, I couldn’t do either.
I saw this person at a networking event and was still upset. I thought I’d just ignore the situation and see if it went away. It didn’t. Finally, I made a deal with myself, “If she comes up to me, I’ll have the conversation.” Sure enough, within three minutes of my thinking that thought, this woman came up and gave me a hug. I said, “Can we talk?” and I asked her about what happened.
It turns out that I was wrong. There was no evil intended on her part, and I totally misread the situation. We had a good talk about what happened, and our relationship is stronger than it was before. But that wasn’t the end.
I knew I had to make it right with the people I complained to about this person. I sucked it up, made the phone calls, and let my friends know that the mistake was mine alone, and I was sorry for letting them believe that this person intentionally did me wrong. The Funny thing is, as much as I didn’t want to make those calls, I felt a lot better after doing so. A clean conscience is a precious thing to have..
If there’s someone you’re having an issue with, why not reach out and see if your perspective is what really happened. You may be surprised by your findings.
PS – People instinctively know that what you’ll do for them, you’ll do to them. Do the right thing – even when it means admitting you’re wrong.