Healthy Doubt is Thinking Twice…

It is important to give thoughtful consideration to all our interactions...

“…I think there is a place for healthy doubt when it helps remind us that indeed we might be wrong… ‘”  Suzanne Clothier

I Might Be Wrong

Reading The Fatal Grace, one book in the Inspector Gamache mystery series by author Louise Penny, I was struck by this passage, which is advice from a wise older policeman to a younger detective:

“I often think we should have tattooed to the back of whatever hand we use to shoot or write, ‘I might be wrong.’”

What if this were on all our hands, easily seen each time we reach for an animal, or hold a leash?  What would happen if this reminder was read before each interaction with our dogs, or horses. . . with anyone?  Would we move with greater care?  Might we have less assurance in the rightness of our actions?  Would we act with fewer assumptions about how entitled we are to even ask or impose our intent upon another being?

Uncertainty can paralyze us, no question.  But I think there is a place for healthy doubt when it helps remind us that indeed we might be wrong.  Our animal friends need us to keep this possibility in our minds, for their sake, and for ours too.

"Copyright © 2013 by Suzanne Clothier. Used by permission of Suzanne Clothier. All rights reserved. For more information about Suzanne please visit SuzanneClothier.com"

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