Something happened to me today on my way home from shopping, and it left me thinking about how we humans behave when we feel that our rights are being challenged. Sometimes we hold on to being right so tightly that we forget the most important thing, which is life itself. This incident showed me clearly that you can lose your right and still be right.
I was walking down a very narrow street when I saw a man ahead of me. He was walking slowly, with his head bowed, probably lost in deep thoughts. Behind him, a bike was approaching. Now, on a street like that, the main part of the road is for bikes, so the rider expects the man to step aside.
But the man didn't notice a thing. The bike rider continued on his way, perhaps believing that the man would get out of his path, but the guy wasn't budging. When the rider got very close and saw that the man did not have a clue as to his presence, he swerved out of the main path in order to avoid hitting him.
Honestly, that alone should have been the end of it: no accident, no harm. Instead, the bike man stopped immediately, very angry, and began shouting at the man for not giving him way.
I stepped in to calm them down. The man on foot admitted that he was wrong because he was lost in thought and didn’t see the bike. He apologized sincerely. But the bike man was still boiling with anger as if he had been robbed of something very important.
That was when I told him something I have learned in life. I said, You do not need to be angry. Yes, it was your right to use the main part of the road, but you should be thankful that nothing bad happened. You can lose your right and still be right.
He looked confused for a moment, so I explained: You lost your right of way for a few seconds, but you did the right thing by avoiding an accident. If you would have hit him, people would not care about who was right or wrong; they would only care that someone got hurt. Life comes before right.
This happens many times. Some bike riders or drivers think they must always stand on their right of way. And even when they can avoid the danger by slowing down or adjusting just a little, they refuse because they want to prove their point. And this pride ends in accidents, injuries, or even death.
The sad part is that after such accidents, the same riders who were defending their rights usually face the law. Some go to prison. Some pay heavy fines. And on terrible days, they get injured even more than the person they hit.
What's the use of being right at the end of the day when the outcome is pain, regret, loss? Sometimes, it is smarter and wiser to step aside, even when it is your right to stand firm. Today was a perfect reminder that, no matter what, life is always more important than proving a point. You can lose your right and still be right. Because choosing peace and safety does not make you weak. It makes you wise.
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