“Discrepancy” is described in the dictionary as a lack of compatibility between facts.

In human nature, I think it’s better described as a lack of compatibility between “shoulds.”

There is a discrepancy between what should be happening according to you and what should be happening according to them.

The real discrepancy isn’t between us and another; it’s between us and reality.

Nowhere in the “should” argument is an argument made for what is actually happening. We argue for our version of the truth and they argue for theirs, and sitting off in the distance is reality having a big belly laugh watching this sitcom play out. Each week’s episode is funnier than the last, but not to you.

We’re a real character caught in a scripted show called “Discrepancy” that’s so far from reality that we can’t see the cosmic joke.

The way out is discovering there is a discrepancy with how we think it should be and the way it is. That’s the only chance we have of closing the gap.

Finding the discrepancy between us and another only elongates the argument into next week’s installment. Discovering how our position doesn’t match up with reality takes us away from our illusion of “should” and plants us firmly in the realm of “is.”

It’s only in this fertile ground that the weeds of discrepancy won’t grow.

Take a closer look at a discrepancy you have with another and you will find that your argument isn’t with them; it’s with reality. I don’t know about you but I can’t ever remember winning an argument with reality.

So many of our problems with others aren’t really with them; they’re between us and the way it is. We have to end our argument with reality before we can end our argument with another.

Once you know who you are really arguing with, the better chance there is of “Discrepancy” being cancelled.

All the best,

John