Think like a Viking: Part thirty two

This week's Viking quote

It is an old custom for the wisest to give way. - The Saga of Harald Hardrade

Pick and choose your battles and know when it may be best to let things slide.

Battles, I've had a few - some I've won, others were lost and there's a few still in-process. Most could say that right? Our battles can seem similar as we're all human and similar forces exert pressure and require attention but we're all individuals and handle things differently. Also, the way we each interpret a battle varies also; a battle for one may be a normal everyday situation for another I guess.

What's constant is that battles, or adversities, complexities, and difficult situations can happen no matter how hard we work to mitigate their possibility. What else is constant amongst us all is that we all have the ability to choose how we act and approach those moments, how we move them forward and also whether we want or need to engage with them in the first place.

I'm not one to value drama. That doesn't mean I won't get involved when my input can make a difference, someone needs genuine help that I can provide, or a situation is such that I feel compelled to get involved. But general drama is not something I'm interested in - I don't see the point.

We live in a world in which things escalate rapidly and it's easy to get involved. I refer to online things; social media things.

Everyone has an opinion and wants to voice it and with the rise of the interwebs and social medias it seems that many people get involved with situations, battles, that are none of their business, don't relate to them in the least bit and, in the grand scheme of things, have literally no real impact or value in their lives at all. But there they are, drawn into the situation, and often getting upset about it needlessly.

I have chosen this Viking quote today because recently a friend of mine spoke about his daughter of twenty years old who has found herself entangled in a situation online that has spilled over into her real life, affected her work, social life and mental health. Sound familiar? He, a man of about my age and is at a loss as to how to move it forward and, as a man of action who loves his daughter very much, is struggling with the fallout from the situation. The sad thing is that the initial scenario had literally nothing to do with the girl at all; it simply escalated and because of her choice to get involved has entangled her in its insidious web. Her fault? Yes, of course. Avoidable? Certainly.

I detest apathy, especially when things matter. It is weak, selfish and speaks poorly of a person's character in my opinion.

An example? Someone being victimised or assaulted on the street; I'm not the turn-a-blind-eye sort of fellow. Or when someone treats a person poorly for no valid reason. I saw this happen at the checkout in the supermarket a week or so ago. The customer was impatient and abusive to the worker who was a new operator. I'm not the turn-a-blind-eye sort of chap so told the customer they were being rude, obnoxious and were well out of line. He appeared ready to pounce upon me but changed his mind reasonably quickly; maybe because of the expression I wore? He apologised to the checkout-girl actually - a much better course of action - and I gave him credit for that. I'm not going to sit by and let those things slide. But I'm selective. I choose my battles because some things are simply not worth it; let's call it most of that online social-media drivel that people seem to occupy their lives with for no apparent reason or value.

I feel there's enough in life that deserves my attention without adding to it by getting involved in things that simply do not matter to me, nor will probably ever matter.

I don't see the point in raising my stress-level, becoming irritated or anxious, angry or aggressive, worried or incensed over things that simply have no relevance; this is why I don't watch the news. Don't misunderstand, this doesn't mean I'm uninformed, it simply means I select the information I absorb and carefully filter out the aspects and information that won't value-add to my personal existence or simply do not matter. It also doesn't mean I'm apathetic to the plight of others; just selective. It's my right as a human and my life is a little less complicated for it.

In short, I choose my battles which allows me to enrich my life with moments, information, people and situations that provide valued reward. Removing the unimportant things means I have more time to devote to those things that actually matter and makes me more efficient at dealing with them when required. I have more time to contemplate, assess and determine a way forward and if that's to take action I'm more able to do so effectively.

That's it for this week, a thousand year-old Viking quote suggesting that one needs to be selective about what situations and scenarios they choose to engage with. Please feel free to disagree with my interpretation and add your own, tell me a story around this quote or topic or simply react to it and let me know what you think, how you see it, how it relates to you or someone you know.

Skol.