Choose Your Battles

Choose Your Battles

We've said a zillion times, life is NEVER a 'cakewalk', that life is a journey of brawls, confrontations, fights, scuffles, name it, life is that kind of a hodge-podge of everything that pertains to conflicts. So, WHERE do we end up with all these?  YES dude, Choose Your Battles.  Knowing WHICH battles to fight [and which to leave for another day OR even walk away from altogether] is critical to surviving life itself 

Early in life, more often than NOT, I was in a quandary, like, should I bury my head deep into the sand? OR should I arm myself and go out there up front?  Thing is, if you find yourself fighting one too many battles, on too many fronts, it is very likely that you will end up feeling drained of either emotional, mental and/or physical energy.  WHAT's more, your relationships [and if it's at work, your performance] will inevitably be impacted.  There's NO way out of those implications.  Once I felt I was in the middle of incessant crossfires [between my work colleagues then, with one faction lobbying more support for the project team while the internal stakeholders were taking a stand from a commercial perspective.  And there I was in the midst of things

Out of naiveness that time, I asked myself, should I see NOTHING, hear NOTHING and in the end, ignore anything?  BUT I asked myself that time, am I a NON-ENTITY?  Then I realized that I am NOT a NON-ENTITY. THAT I am a part of the equation.  THAT I am one of the relevant players.  THAT I was entitled to speak up and even opine.  Eventually, I realized [before it was too late] that I will NOT take the stance of ignorance.  Thinking that I had to fight a battle that actually belongs to someone else is a very easy mistake to make

WHAT's a recurring risk in our life is that sometimes, you can get involved in another person's battle WITHOUT even meaning to.  Alternatively, you might be the kind of person WHO likes to 'stick up for' your more timid friends or colleagues.  Ooooops, endeavor to resist falling into that TRAP [at all costs].  And if it's someone else's battle, then someone else needs to be fighting it [and NOT you].  Thing is, you have ENOUGH battles of your own to contest in life.  Even IF you felt you had that gumption and energy to take on another one, your arsenal is NOT a bottomless pit

Our takeaway:  Truth of the matter, assess the situation with a long-term perspective.  WHAT difference will winning one battle make in the long-term?  To answer that seemingly casual question, you need to step back and look at the BIG picture.  That might mean your relationship with your boss, the direction of your career OR if it is a family matter, WHAT happens to the family when all the rubles and dust settle down?  Really, you got to CHOOSE YOUR BATTLES, dude❗❗❗