“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I don’t know. I need help.” In her Three Pines Series, Louise Penny has her character, Chief Inspector Gamache – a French Canadian detective – often quote these four sentences telling his listener that these four sentences lead to wisdom. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I don’t know. I need help.”
Reading these four sentences, makes me question how many of the 3D traumas and dramas would be eased or never occurred in the first place if we were willing to allow ourselves to be this wisdom. “I’m sorry. I was wrong. I don’t know. I need help.”
Penny also quotes the following two sentences often. “There is always another story. There is more than meets the eye.” These two sentences get to the heart of not judging a situation too quickly. We might not know the struggles or the “why” behind someone’s actions and beliefs.
I am reading Penny’s latest installment of her murder mystery series A World of Curiosities. Because Gamache believes the two sentences of “There is always another story. There is more than meets the eye,” he says the other four sentences to a troubled and belligerent young police officer. Gamache sees something in the young man that is hidden underneath his bluster. Gamache believes the young man is not a lost cause, when the local department head is getting ready to fire the police officer. (This is the backstory of how the troubled young officer becomes Gamache’s son-in-law.) If Gamache had not been patient and understanding, Jean-Guy’s life would have taken a much different direction.
As I strive to be the change in the world that I want to see in the world, I am going to remember Penny’s wisdom. What wisdom will help you move forward in the world?
Gratitude to Graphic Mama Team for the image above.