When Last Did Someone Correct You? (Part 1)

I remember only few of my high school teachers but there is one that I will never forget. His name was Mr. Bob (not his real name). Mr. Bob was addicted to "correctness". I can hardly remember any student that got an 'Excellent' grade in his class. The best grade the best student got was "Ok" or "C" grade. If you missed as little as a "caps" at the beginning of a sentence or a "full stop" at the end, it was almost certain that you would do the whole work all over again. I thought he was cruel. I could not be any happier when it was all over and I don't think I miss him very much.

However, one truth stands out of my experience with Mr. Bob: While we do not need people to sit on our necks, pick our faults and tell us what we do wrong all the time, NOT having someone to correct us is far worse. I will explain with a story my mom often told to teach  her kids the importance of accepting correction. [.....]

There was a proud young man who felt right in all his ways. Nobody dare correct him or point out his faults. One day he was invited to a party. When the day came, he dressed up and off he went. As he passed by, people looked at him and started laughing. But he would not care as much as look back to know why they laughed although he  secretly felt they laughed in admiration of him. Then he got to the party and sat on a table. As the guests began to eat, he noticed that the people at his table were leaving one by one until he was left alone. A wise old man in the audience observed the scene and called him aside. "Son, do you know why those people abandoned the table?" the old man asked and without waiting for his response, told him: "because you were talking and spitting food from your month" At that, the truth got to him and he felt remorseful. He thanked the wise old man and turned to leave. As soon as he turned his back, the wise man called him back, "what is that stain on your back? Unknown to him, there was a big stain at the back of his dress which nobody dared to tell him at home and which was why the people on the street laughed at him on his way to the party.

As I write this blog, I wonder if there's a stain on my back. A stain on my back is anything that stands out as ugly to everyone else but me because it lies at my blind spot. If you can see any, please know that I welcome positive criticisms and feedback to help me do better. I hope you would be kind enough to send me your observations and corrections (if any) when you are done reading this.

Is there a stain on your back that no one has told you about? When last did someone correct you? Or more importantly, when last did you accept correction? When last did you humbly say, "I was wrong, I am sorry" and mean it? or "Oh, I never realized that my actions came through to others that way"? 

IF THEY CORRECT YOU, THEY CARE ABOUT YOU

It is wise to accept correction as a gesture of love and kindness. I am not talking about destructive criticism that come from Nay Sayers and haters with a goal to paralyze our difference, creativity and progress. No matter what you do or don't do somebody will criticize you, for sure. Criticism and correction are two different things. All corrections are criticisms but not all criticisms are corrections. True corrections come from people who truly care. The  bible says "The Lord corrects those he loves" (Heb 12:6. See also Gen 6:5-7).

If no one is correcting us or if we cannot remember the last time we received correction,  it is hardly that we are faultless. It is more likely that the people around us don't care or we are too arrogant to be corrected. Proverbs (9:7-9). If people care about us they would correct us and if they correct us it is because they care about us. I write this week's blog because I care. I care enough to respectfully draw attention, (yours and mine) to the killer-nature of  'stiff-neck' attitude and our need to take on the teachable posture. People who cannot be corrected end up badly. Ask Adolf Hitler or Idi Amin and they would admit that it is deadly to live without correction -a lesson they may have learned too late. The Bible says a person who remains stiff-necked after many corrections will suddenly be destroyed -without remedy. (Proverbs 29:1)

NO ONE IS ABOVE CORRECTION, NO ONE!

Truth is, even the best of us needs correction. A popular proverb says, "The wise learns from everybody but the fool learns from nobody". The more teachable we are the more accurate and acceptable we become. Arrogance stinks and stiff-necked people repel people. We do not necessarily earn more respect because we do everything perfectly every time, rather we earn respect because we are excellent and at the root of excellence is our admittance of ignorance and our need for improvement. I do not particularly buy the idea that 'to ere is human and to forgive is divine' because it tends to tie us to our wrong actions but there is some truth in it nevertheless. Everyone errs once in a while. Only God is perfect all the time. Therefore, nobody is above correction.


To be continued
Meanwhile you can reach me at everydaylifeblogging@gmail.com