Thursday, May 21, 2009

COMPROMISING POSITIONS

We may hear phrases like, "Go with the flow"..."Don't be so stubborn"..."Why do you always have to stick to your principles?"...and the like. What do YOU do when faced with that cajoling, thinly veiling the underlying implication that your position is too rigid and should be cast aside?

I do not pretend to say that which is a principle for you, a truth for you is absolutely a principle or a truth for me. Certainty, except in foundational matters, is in the eye of the beholder. But YOUR principles are your principles.

Trust your instincts. You can recognize the difference between a preference for which you will yield on occasion versus a bedrock principle for which you would lay down your life. Throughout life we are faced with tension from others (and occasionally from ourselves, our "inner demons") when the temptation to set aside that which is right for us appears to be getting in the way of what other options beckon.

He who pushes you to abandon that which you hold dear may simply mean well and want company on his journey. But beware the alternative, the insidious invitation designed to separate you from your principles. One might think of matters of faith, honor, chastity perhaps. Each of us knows in our hearts how we define those positions for which compromise is not an option we would choose.

Compromise should always remain an option for matters of mere preference. But do not fall victim to the urgings of the misguided or the miscreant, but instead hold true to your own uncompromising positions.

TODAY'S QUESTION: What ideals or truths are you unwilling to compromise?

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