Personal Failure

Today I joined a twitter thread discussing relationships between a few members and how they soured. This ventured into speculation on personal details that we could have no knowledge of, and I certainly didn’t as regards my comment.

And I was rightfully called on it…

My immediate reaction was recoil defensively, but then saw that the call out was well deserved. Even at that I was somewhat frozen. Realizing one is wrong can be tough. Being shown one is wrong is tougher. You need to confront not only the error, but your own failure in not catching it. And on a public forum, more so.

I was jolted out of my stasis by another participant agreeing we should be better than that. So of course I had to agree, while at the same time being pissed off at myself for not summoning the courage to reply first.

This is not what I strive for in my interactions. I try to be better and hold myself to a higher standard. And I have called out others for the same thing I was caught doing. Gossipy speculation is no better than name calling or ad homs, and probably worse, because it isn’t in a discussion where the other party gets to defend themselves.

It is often said we should strive to be better. I will do my best to keep this in mind and learn from it.