Skip to main content

Picking a Fight



It’s nearly impossible to passively coast through life. While some may be characterized by being proactive and others as reactive, everyone must choose a fight in which to engage. Boiled down to a very simple dichotomy, you can fight for the things you do want in life or be relegated to fight against the things in your life you don’t want.

Fighting for the things you do want means identifying and pursuing the elements of greatest value to you. The aspects of life that really make you tick, that make your heart come alive and ignite a burning within your soul. These are the things you may be able to exist without, but in their absence, you wouldn’t be truly living. Whether it’s your passions, a vocational calling, your family or a cause, these areas refuse to be quieted within your spirit and demand deliberate and determined action to pursue.

And if you aren’t fighting for those things of greatest value, you will likely end up fighting against negative factors that have crept into your life in the absence of the former. Mediocrity, laziness, boredom, lack of fulfillment, dead-end jobs, toxic relationships, directionless wanderings, noisy distractions and hollow comforts are the things you will find taking up residence in your life where your passions and callings were meant to be built.

This is not to say these battles don’t happen simultaneously. I believe they do. But I also have come to learn that the more I am fighting for and filling my life with that which is truly precious, the less room there is for the dross and empty pursuits to invade my thoughts and my time.

So, hands up. Chin down. Go pick your fight!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Toxic Humility

We have all seen false humility: the guy who tries to hide his arrogance with feigned modesty. It’s usually pretty obvious and always obnoxious. But there is also another variation of false humility out there: toxic humility. This is often displayed in self-deprecating talk and a lack of self-confidence, belittling or undermining one’s own talents and abilities. The danger in this kind of behavior is twofold: it is too often accepted as true humility and like a virus, it spreads doubt and disbelief. To clarify, it is not that the bearer of this toxic humility isn’t honest about his view of himself. That is the very issue: he absolutely believes he has little value or utility. He thinks downplaying his own worth is humility but I disagree. CS Lewis said it best when he wrote, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking about yourself less.” His point being, true humility is not an ever-present raincloud of self-doubt that follows you around. It’s a focus on...

The Art of Intentionality

  “Intentional living is the art of making our own choices before others’ choices make you.” – Richie Norton   I am not even sure who Richie Norton is, but I love that quote! I imagine a ship drifting out to sea, pushed around by the wind and the waves. No course of direction, yet the captain is frustrated when the ship ends up dashed against the rocks, trapped on a sandbar or marooned on an inhospitable island. It is easy to complain when life takes us where we do not want to go. But who is really to blame if we have never set our sails to align us along an appropriate course? Do we blame the waves, wind and the weather? Or should we blame the captain of the ship? It is our life and our ship. We must set our sails with intentionality and determined choices. Otherwise, we are doomed to aimlessly drift along according to the choices and decisions of others. 

Hasty Hares

We live in a world full of hares. People darting from one thing to another. Always looking for a shortcut. Constantly seeking a quick fix. Ever searching for a hack. And more than anything, they want it NOW! Speed seems to have replaced diligent planning and patient determination. It’s all about quick results, immediate feedback and instant gratification. People seem to be less concerned with the direction they are headed than how fast they are moving. They don’t know where they are going – and are quite possibly moving in the wrong direction – but at least they’re making good time! But the pace and aimless effort catches up. They get jaded and burn out. Or they simply end up “lost.” They fail to notice that movement isn’t progress. They don’t consider that sheer velocity, without control and accuracy, is dangerous and destructive. They forget the tortoise wins. Every. Single. Time. “It matters not how slowly you go. It only matters that you do not stop.” – Confucio...