Choose Your Battles Wisely
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It is Foolish to Battle with all
Life is filled to the brim with battles. Waking up early morning is also a battle for some people. Some go through a tough battle to correct their destructive eating habits, whereas another is fighting a battle to remain faithful to their partner. Then there are the youngsters who are battling to overcome drug addiction from cigarettes to heroine. All the aforementioned battles are conflicts with yourself, you have no option but to face the battle as they are initiated from within yourself. There are no alternatives but to fight against those inner battles and conquer them. However the impact from the outsiders is another form of battles we encounter in our day to day lives. That party maybe your wife, relatives, neighbours, colleagues, drivers on the streets, vendors at the market or merchandisers at the stores. It could be anyone who could influence you with the use of their words as well as actions. Yet some people have foolishly chosen to combat every battle that comes their way.
If you consider eighty years (80) as the average life span of an individual, his productive life span is just about twenty-six years (26). Out of his entire life span of eight years (80), he would spend twenty years (20) on education and growth and another twenty years (20) after retirement. Each of us invest approximately thirteen years (13) of our lives on sleeping. This leaves you with only twenty-six years (26) to cultivate in your garden of life. Therefore, the time we are offered is limited and irreplaceable. It is undoubtedly more precious than Rubies.
You cannot fight a battle which is irrelevant and unnecessary to fight. Select the battles that you ought to fight wisely. You do not have to fight with each and every person you meet. Considering the many fights we face formed by the outsiders, almost ninety percent (90%) of those are nothing but to protect their ego. I have heard of many stories where people have been stabbed to death just because they have chosen to fight a battle merely to feed their ego. Many have died due to road accidents, because people choose to feed their ego by competing with the other vehicles. I was an utter fool during my youth. I was a street fighter who used to fight with and for other futile people who have no meaning or value about my life. What moved me the most was their purposeless praise about me, which could not even buy me a meal, while I was begging on the streets. Those praises based on pride could only feed my ego, I had no one to turn up to when I was lost and lonely. That is the reason I mentioned that life is too short to waste on unnecessary battles.
Some people do not stop at the point when the truth is revealed, they pick to abide to the fight merely to feed their ego. Hence, you ought to educate your children to discontinue at the point of truth, as beyond that point, it is all about fabricating a falsehood which will be of immense difficulty to maintain. It is okay to experience defeat in life as long as you decide not to persist being defeated. Both success and failure are not the end or the ultimate. People who were ones successful have subsided to beggars, likewise people who were ones beggars have advanced to become victorious.
At one point of my life, I was a drug addict, a mental patient and a beggar as a result of my foolishness. Nevertheless I transformed in to an eminent CEO, a performing consultant and an esteemed Cooperate and Individual Trainer as for the decision I made on one beautiful day. Therefore please comprehend that encountering defeat, and stagnating at the place of defeat are two different aspects.
Do you attend to all the weddings that you are invited for? If you receive ten wedding invitations within a month and you decide to attend to all of them, you might end up losing your job and facing a huge financial crisis during that month. Do not accept each and every invitation for battles from others. For instance, if you accept the invitation of a bus driver for a battle on the theme of ‘Speed and I am better’, you are not going to gain anything by winning the battle, as it is not a formula one race that will offer the winner a million dollars. On the flip side, if you are unable to control the speed of your vehicle during the race, you might end up hurting yourself. That would be a huge cost for your loving wife and your innocent children. Why not train to ask yourself if you are a fool who chose to run after your ego, or are you a learned personality who chose not to fight? By choosing battles you will bump into the precious moments that you could enjoy with your lovely family in the future.
Additionally, you need to understand that in reality, the battles not fought are not lost. They are simply inadequate activities which does not enhance the meaning of your life. I have personally chosen not to accept invitations on all the battles. You might have a wicked neighbour who always invites you for battles on imprudent subjects, such as a branch of a tree that has fallen to their garden. Why not safeguard your Peace and feed his ego by refusing his invitation. Peace is beautiful, unfortunately people do not realise its beauty as they are always in misery feeding their ego.
On many occasions I have apologised even when I knew I was correct. Even though I knew I was correct, the other party was in the understanding that he was correct. As for me peace is much more precious than nurturing my futile ego. I have relinquished numerous battles in life, as I know that I can fill my mind with happiness, if I choose not to fight. Peace is far more valuable than feeding your ego. Falsehood is all that ego can present you with, nevertheless Peace can provide you with light. Therefore, master the skill of surrendering in certain occasions, as a result of avoiding an unwanted battle, you will enjoy the privilege of living in peace and not in chaos.
At times protecting what you have in your possession is more vital that fighting for what you believe is right. I recall of a father who paid with his life for choosing to fight an unwanted battle. He died leaving back his beautiful family all alone in this cruel world. Your beautiful family is much more precious than fighting a battle with the fish vendor who cheated you for fifty rupees. Isn’t life worth than fifty rupees? If the battle is not focused on Life and death, and the only thing you gain by fighting this battle is feeding your ego, then do not fight the fight. Many marriages can be preserved if one party opts to surrender. Spending twenty years more with your beloved family is surely a treasure than feeding your ego for two minutes. Therefore ‘CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES WISELY’ as it is indeed foolish to battle with everything that strikes you.
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