One of the great challenges in life for me has always been about finding the balance between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law and learning to dance between them.
Sometimes being right can be wrong which has long been the albatross around my neck -perhaps for my entire life.
My arrogance about the letter of the law and not only tying to live by it, but calling people out who weren’t, has ruined friendships and been a roadblock to any success I might have had in multiple workplaces.
I am grateful for a manager in one of my workplaces who once said to me, “Carol, you are like Don Quixote – always trying to right the wrongs but your tenacity often makes you a bigger problem than the problem you are fighting.”
However, even in my gratitude, it took me many years to really begin to comprehend what his words meant. Today, I am clear about how profound it was and how brave it was for him to tell me.
I had the same righteous attitude on the highways. I was quite prideful about driving the speed limit and was outraged that most people did not. It was difficult for me to have a nice, relaxed, leisurely drive because I was constantly clocking the speed of other drivers and cursing under my breath about all the “lawbreakers.” It was very sad – pathetic actually – but fortunately, today I am amused.
Today, I am still learning to dance more gracefully between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Gratefully, I think I am more comfortable living in the spirit of the law, with Spirit in Law and Love.
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