For peace to reign, there is a need for sacrifice. When none of the contending parties is willing to sacrifice and pave the way for dialogue and reconciliation in the face of misunderstandings, litigation could set in. This is why even the court of law encourages out-of-court settlements.
When Mr. A feels cheated and he is out with full energy to fight for his rights, and Mr. B also feels cheated with the resolve to fight for his rights, attainment of peace becomes difficult. To achieve peace, one party, in most cases, has to sacrifice and move to allow peace to reign.
One can even take the blame for what you never did to promote peace. I have many instances where I towed this part to maintain peace. Sometimes, I would want to stand and fight against infringement of my rights, but then I would just think of the awesomeness of peace and take its path.
Something happened a few years ago. My brother and I went to rent an apartment. The house was newly built. When we inspected the house, we realized that it hadn't been connected to power. Though the electrical work was done perfectly, cables were yet to be drawn from the nearby electric pole. When we discussed this with the landlord, he encouraged us to pay the rent with the promise that he would use part of the rent to get a prepaid meter and the cable to bring power to the house.
We gave him the rent with the belief that he would keep his promise.
We packed into the house, and all our expectations for him to fulfill his promise proved abortive. He kept lying to us about how the staff of the power distribution company that was to come was deceiving him. When we waited for some months without any positive outcome from the landlord, my brother joined other tenants to contribute money for another meter. We needed the landlord's consent before proceeding to get the prepaid meter and register the house.
It was at this point that he confessed that some emergencies came up that consumed the rent that we paid. He promised to help us get the meter with the money contributed afresh, with another promise that the contribution would form part of our rent for the subsequent year.
True to his word, this time around, he brought a meter for us the following week. The meter was fixed, and we got power for the first time in about four months.
About three months later, I returned from work to find that the power to the house was disconnected and the meter taken away. I was confused about what could be the reason.
We went to the distribution company's office close to the house to find out what the problem was. We were told that the meter in question wasn't in its original state. It was tampered with so that it doesn't require loading units for it to function. The landlord, in conjunction with some accomplices among the company's staff, did the criminal work. For the few months that we used the meter, the landlord insisted that we contribute money for him to buy units for us. My brother objected the idea initially but he agreed with him upon his insistence. When the issue blew out, I realized that the landlord didn't buy any units at any point in time because the meter had been tampered with.
The solution was to buy another meter to replace the seized one. The landlord asked us to contribute money again for the meter, and my brother vehemently disagreed. He told the landlord to use the initial money contributed for an original meter to buy a new one. The other co-tenants agreed to contribute the money after some time, but my brother refused.
We were the ones in darkness because the landlord was living in a neighboring town. I had to intervene and pleaded with my brother to contribute to the money and allow peace to reign. For peace to reign, we should be ready to sacrifice. My brother contributed the money, and a new meter was purchased. We stayed in the house for some months before leaving for a better apartment.
I still hold the same belief about making sacrifices for peace to reign. If I am faced with the same situation now, I will still decide to pay the money and allow peace to reign.
Thank you for your time.