Choose your battles

Sun Tzu once said, “He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.” In life we learn that choosing our battles entails wisdom. When we are selective in our approach, reactions or the confrontations we decide to get involved in, you not only save your time but also appreciate the things that matter most.

I consider myself to be a person that loves to work. I’m not exactly a workaholic, but I see myself as someone who enjoys the purpose behind everything that I do yet, a few times – and surely the same goes for all – a number of problems can get in the way. Frankly however, most of these problems are not within our control. Having said this therefore, I have learned to focus on the benefits of personal excellence, as working on oneself is something we have full control over.

Winning battles is not a measure for happiness and choosing them wisely gives us the confidence to understand that a good direction leads to a life best lived. Not everything is important. There will be challenges in our everyday life; however, we must learn to choose the ones worth focusing on from the ones we can let go of. There are some things that simply don’t matter in the long run and our focus must always be on the bigger and more important things in life.

Problems take up much of our energy and having to battle every single problem is wasted time better spent elsewhere, as making good use of your time is a much better choice. In this life, we are given very little time as certainly – and I think we could all agree – looking back at your life many years from now should not be one of regret but rather of value on the time well spent with the people you loved the most.

But what exactly is the point of choosing your battles? It’s simply about being strategic and the strategy revolves around time. There is a season for everything and time is best treasured when one can look back at a life that has been lived to its fullest. Pick your battles, my folks always tell me – turn away from the irrelevant and remain in the space that matters most. Whether we believe it or not, most of the things that bother us are not worth our precious time and it is important to stay focused on the impact of our decisions that affect us in the long run.

So remember, choose your battles but don’t choose very many. Life is too short to be unhappy and picking your battles should make sense as this is the real victory. After all, not everything is worth your precious time.