The story behind my latest tattoo and what it means to me:-
I blogged recently about the guy who quit his ‘successful’ big career to become a forest monk in Thailand. I recently read his book called ‘I may be wrong’ which was brilliant.
Well, his abbot at the monastery told the group of monks, including this guy Nathako, one night during his daily teachings about a mantra that would change their lives forever. He said when we you feel any conflict arising with another or even yourself simple say to yourself before doing anything ‘I may be wrong’ 3 or 4 times.
Then the conflict will go and you realise being right doesn’t matter.
For me, in my childhood, I was conditioned by my parents to be always right. It was like a badge of honour to be right and at any cost no matter what you had to do to be right and no matter what suffering was caused.
So it is a reminder to me when that pattern still comes in me, it does come still. Also, it is a recognition and a ‘hug’ to myself just how much I’ve changed and how far I’ve come on my journey and how far I still want to go.
This continued into my adult life until I learnt that nothing matters least of all being right.
It means so much to me to have that piece of art on my skin and I’m completely full of joy about it.
It’s all part of my journey to remove all the shackles that have held me back.
I increasingly want to have no opinion about anything. I know nothing and I really do not give a fuck about being right any more.
Philip Dodson 