Choosing One's Own Battles

In this sometimes dog-eat-dog life, many issues can come up during the course of a day that appear to demand some kind of response. Whether it’s out in traffic, in the workplace, at home, at school, out shopping, or any other foreseeable situation, transgressions will often occur that will bring on an urge for correction and an assertive response. But from where I stand, if I were to react to every “wrong” done to me, then all I would ever be doing would be “reacting”! It seems that I must learn to choose my battles, which means that I must train myself to consciously forgo redress for minor offenses while concentrating on strategies that enable me to handle the most important situations. Whenever I think of someone, either in public life or in a fictional work, who is a success story, I discover that this individual most always sees ahead to the big issues while letting petty, trivial matters brush by.

But in order to accomplish this, I must carefully identify reactive behavior on my part as it happens and consciously work to eliminate it. One helpful way is to rehearse in advance situations that are most likely to provoke unsought “battles” and act out (in my mind) ways to get around them without becoming entrenched in petty conflicts.

One of Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is “Begin with the end in mind”. That is, get a lifetime perspective in what you really want to accomplish in your life. Now contrast that with the assorted distractions and humiliations you put up with and spend too much time and energy thinking about and acting upon. Well, I’ve had it with that! From now on, I’m choosing my own battles! Life is too precious and short to spend dwelling on trivial offenses and trivial people. My priorities rest with the health, welfare, and happiness of my family and myself.