Point Out Mistakes: Red Or Green Ink?
In our society there is a characteristic that is a source of inspiration for sadness. It is the tendency to point out mistakes, to torture ourselves with them, chewing them undeterred until they become bitter and dry, like a clove of garlic that is roasted in a pan. We highlight with red ink, forgetting the green one …
We transform small errors without the slightest importance into the worst of crimes, into the cruelest of violations, into the most absolute proof of our uselessness. We wave our whip, so skilled when it comes to hurting our own flesh and others’ flesh, and then try to heal it with our clumsy hand and unable to follow any other rhythm than the one dictated, after all, by the social environment.
If there was a manual of unhappy people, this would probably be the feature described on the first page. And there are not a few people who are experts in torturing themselves, in front of others and in the mirror. Maybe at school they teach us to channel our emotions to use them in our favor, but never to underline with green ink instead of red. Failures weigh, victories are taken for granted.
That’s why we have a habit of pointing out mistakes rather than sticking out green ink.
Point out mistakes and use green ink in childhood
The teachers point out the mistakes to the pupils. If you weren’t good at math and didn’t have enough, you probably spent the summer doing math and solving problems. History or English were put aside, good grades were overlooked.
We have all been students, during our school and university career we have faced dozens of exams in the correction of which only the things that were not right were highlighted. Maybe the task was flawless, long and well thought out; and yet, above all, that little spelling forgetfulness, an oversight in writing two units or a wrong sign , stood out like the moon in the sky. More for less, less for more, which changes.
Green ink is an attitude
Thus, it is the mistakes that sometimes, from childhood, affect the distribution we make of time. The basic philosophy is to close as much as possible the cracks from which water can escape. The other side of the coin, however, shows a more attractive and stimulating teaching which consists in insisting and highlighting the results, the difference between the before and the now, the result of the effort. Using green ink instead of red.
Because each of us uses these two colors, even if we don’t have to correct exams. We arrive home, our partner has made dinner, has set the table, but has forgotten to make the bed. What will we tell him? What will we point out to him? The glass half full or half empty is not just a question of optimism or pessimism: it is the filter through which we look, the chisel that paves our path, the rein that directs our caravan.
We adults also use ink with other adults. The question becomes what color we use with others and which with ourselves. Feeling that we arrive at the end of the day thinking about the poor results obtained by our department or thinking that thanks to the exercises we have been doing for a few days, the pain in the knee is disappearing.
Red ink or green ink indicate how we treat others ourselves. We think generosity is a great value, but the truth is that we don’t apply it enough in this field. We admire people who motivate and comfort others, so why does it cost us so much? Is it really worth using red ink much more than using green ink?
Going beyond error allows us to aspire to a balance in which all colors can join. Acquiring a multicolored palette to highlight aspects of life will make us stronger towards ourselves, but also towards others on a social level.
