PG: Your enemy is always right

A few years ago i attended the event 'Creativity and ethics'. One of the speakers was a young guy, i think 26 at that time. He was a professional demonstrator from when he was 16, going out on the streets, throwing stones at the police and stuff. When i talked to him he worked as an IT-person for an organization i think it was Greenpeace.

Up to that day i had severe prejudice against people like him. Having never met them, i knew they were all bad and useless, in fact a threat to society. It was on that day that i asked this young man about his passion. Why he did what he did.

Something changed inside my mind from that day on. The thing i remember was that i started to understand that each and every voice has a message of value to those addressed. Usually these people don't want to hear the voice; think of what Greenpeace did to Shell, the South African boycot etc.

Here is the lesson i learned. If someone upsets me, be it in business or in private life, i should go out, pay the person a visit and listens to what (s)he has to say. I should try not to argue, i should try to learn. Knowing my own arguements, telling them is not the same as learning.

From my personal experience, this can be a very harsh task. I found myself not ready for a long long time. In fact, there is only one person here on earth that i am still not ready for. Needless to say she's the only person so far who has really introduced me to this wasteland outside my comfort zone. But don't let this interfere with your life. After all, if you did what i did you'd end up having my problems right?

Check HERE for an example of what could happen...