Stoic Sunday – advice for when you are confronted by one of life’s “jerks”:
“Remember always: As wrong as they are, as annoying as it is, it takes two for a real conflict to happen. As the Stoics said, when we are offended, when we fight, we are complicit. We have chosen to engage. We have traded self-control for self-indulgence. We’ve allowed our cooler head to turn hot – even though we know hot heads rarely make good decisions.” Ryan Holiday
This is something I’ve struggled with forever. Jesus said turn the other cheek. My dad taught me if anyone wrongs me, I’d better fight them or I’d get a whipping from HIM! With that internal conflict, I’ve fought when I shouldn’t have, and failed to fight when I should have fought. I’ve had to work hard to find the middle ground (it’s a work still in progress!). Definitely there is a time to stand your ground, to be assertive, etc. But in regular ol’ daily life, when confronted with someone’s negativity of attitude, the stoic advice is generally pretty solid. We don’t have to engage with everyone who says or does something jerky. We almost always have a choice, and we can choose the higher road, at least most of the time.
Peace and blessings friends! JB