“Is it a hill worth dying on?”

I actually ask myself that frequently. A Pastor told me this once, and it is something that has stuck with me for the long haul.   Back in the day when I was younger, I tried to fight every fight.  I had this silly idea for years, and I had the passion and energy to do it. I thought I could make a difference by upholding the honor of the fight.  Fighting for the little people, fighting for myself, fighting for the principle of something…it was worth it for the greater good, was it not?

It really wasn’t.  And I think the only change that I really made was in myself.

The Pastor told me that my passion was good…but I “can’t die on every hill.”

And that is enormously true.

 

In life, there is an endless volley of trials.  Although some days the Nerf-trials are easy to deflect, and they just bounce right off and you walk away unharmed, some days seem to have more spiky trials thrown at us than others; and they stick to you.  If not stick in you.  Those trials you can’t walk away from easily.

 

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. “ Dalai Lama

 

The best solution to outrage is fighting it with compassion.

I have never seen one hill that could not be conquered with anything other than compassion.

Further, compassion is certainly not something you can understand by reading a pamphlet or a tract.  It is something you learn how to do over time, through both observations and experiences.

Practicing compassion is certainly something everyone should hear about at least once, just to get the ball rolling.