The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. Proverbs 12:15

In grade school I recall duking it out verbally with someone who went on to be one of the top ten students in my entire school (years later). The subject? What was the color of velvet? I argued for a long time that it was a color among other things. And what color is velvet, you might ask? Purple, of course. For some reason I had it firmly planted in my head that velvet was purple. The other student (and others) laughed at my suggestion, but I was totally serious.

Fast forward 30+ years and I am (finally!) able to see the error of my ways. Velvet is clearly sky blue! Just kidding.

But the lesson here is this: sometimes, like the verse so vividly points out, it was right for me at the time. If only someone wiser and sharper would have helped me get out of the hole I was continuing to dig for myself!

I think we’re all stubborn like that to varying degrees. It may be true when we’re playing a game or chewing the fat after a long dinner. Recognizing when we’re wrong is not as easy as it sounds, especially when we have it cemented into our thick skulls from long ago.