Former chairman of Finnish scouts Harri Länsipuro organised a small event on sunday for leaders and rovers in the leaders’ welfare area. The event was called “Happy or right?” and revolved around the concept of knowing when being happy is more important than being right.
It was a relaxed setting as all the 9 participants shared their name and task at Kajo. Personal stories were shared when Harri was telling us about his view on the subject and all in all a very welcoming environment.
So what does it mean to chose happiness over being right? We all have been in certain scenarios when there’s a conflict of interest. Someone else might want to do something their way and you want to do it your way. In those cases you should always stop and ask yourself “what is more important here, that I get it my way or that we leave this situation happy?”. Let’s say for example that you and your partner have different ways of loading the dishwasher. If the other person has loaded the dishmachine in a way you don’t quite like, is it worth “correcting” them and reorganising the dishes or is it better to accept that we think differently? Technically, this way of thinking is a kind of problemsolving for eventual future conflicts.
But of course in all situations of conflict we can’t chose happiness over being right. Let’s say you are in a hurry and someone is doing something that takes much longer than it needs to. Then maybe its better to do it your way. But remember, who’s to actually say which way is better?
Basically it’s a similar concept as the phrases “choose your battles” or “pick your poison”. We like being right and we like everyone to be happy but sometimes those two things don’t go together. You just have to weigh the positive outcomes of each scenario. It was also mentioned that you have to let people learn from their own mistakes.
Harri Länsipuro had plenty of wise things to say, and our reporter really liked the activity. Would recommend!
Text: Jessica Nyberg
Photo: Filip Eller
