A warrior is very careful of the battle he chooses to fight. Not every battle is worth the effort. He recognises the fact that he has limited resources available and if those be utilised in battles which are not worthy, it would be a waste. The most important resource on the planet is time, you can get everything in life again, but not time. Yet people are wasting this resource beyond measure, by fighting the wrong battles.
A colleague did you wrong at work and you spend the next six months in avenging what was done to you. Someone cheated you in a relationship you spend the next two years cursing him for what he did. A business partner misappropriated your funds and you lived your life with this memory. Someone beat you physically and you let your scars remind you everyday how you were treated. Someone cut you off in traffic and you spoilt your mood for the entire day. Why are you letting these distractions affect your entire life?
Best way to take revenge is by living in Peace. When you stay in peace you let others know that they don’t hold power over you. Mahatma Gandhi said, “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” Why do you allow distractions of life take you away from your goals! When you live in peace you announce to the Universe that you have outgrown your problems. You graduate yourself in the school of life whenever you chose not to be a part of battle that is not worthy.
Sometimes you will come across people in your life who would always like to see you depressed. They will consistently try to make you focus on things that are going wrong in your life, they would magnify your problems by talking about them for long and leave you depleted. Best way is to stay away from them and hence live in peace. Let them know that you have decided to focus on your beautiful future and are no more available to talk about what happened in the past.
Avoiding a battle is a sign of strength. We have been taught since our childhood that we should not show our backs to people and situations. We have been conditioned to take up every battle that comes our way. And this belief has caused more harm than good. Without evaluating the cost we take up every challenge. What’s the point in winning a battle when you lose your loved ones on the way! You may win an argument but you might lose a person. You might satisfy your ego but there will be no love.
Sometimes it is okay to ignore certain things instead of making everything move according to your plan. If your partner leaves the laundry on the floor, you can ignore it for the love he is giving you, if your friend has a habit of coming late, you may chose to ignore it for the commitment she has shown towards you, if someone overtakes your car you can chose to ignore it because you have a career defining interview in a few moments, if someone abuses you can chose to ignore instead of damaging your heart with anger.
Whenever someone intimidates you it is time to ask yourself, “If I take up this battle, will it help me move towards my Destiny?” If the battle doesn’t help you move forward in the direction of your goal, you may ignore it and chose to live in peace. There is a term called “Pyrrhic victory” which defines a victory which is achieved at high cost. The cost of victory is so high that it is almost equivalent to a defeat. Walk away from battles which won’t help you grow as a person. Don’t let your ego direct your life, it is just like a drug, the more you feed it the more dependent you become. Instead use your Intellect and drive your life in the right direction by choosing the right battles.
Nishit Lal is an author and corporate trainer (www.nishitlal.com).
