Collective battle

this is a reminder to self to choose battles wisely. some battles can be won by sidestepping the mountain and thus conquering oneself by choosing not to conquer said mountain. no use engaging in debates on social networking sites which eventually would hold no impact and sooner or later come to naught.

and as such, "unfriending" and "unfollowing" concepts come to mind as very practical solutions in achieving the peaceful mind. some colleagues told me before that to overcome the opponent, we must embrace the opponent's ideology and thoughts. that is, purposely taking in the input of the opponent and then decide to use it as a weapon later. while this might work in several circumstances, again this boils down to whether this is a 'fight' worth fighting.

if for a scientific debate all opposing views are held into consideration then i am agreeable. but for open topics such as religion and politics taking into account the opposition is often tedious and furthermore, righteousness is subjective. as such, it is imperative to remind oneself that one's collection of thoughts and beliefs are unique and may not be shared by the collective 'others'. this is how 'geniuses' are born and where Nobel prize winners reside.

for if they were to take the low ground and remain under the radar in order to remain 'safe', they would not have had impacted humanity with their ideas in the first place. in an intimidating environment, genius is killed. as such, it is imperative for oneself to be aware that 'to see the change in the world, one must first change oneself'. and it is with this belief, that i change my surroundings to a more receptive and conducive one.

and to be aware of the fact that one can choose the battles to fight, and not needing to engage each one that appears before the very eyes, for it might be true that the most obvious battle is a red herring, while the sharks come circling by...