Is that your attitude? That if you don’t act on your best interests… who will? Even if there IS some truth to this assertion, the larger question is – how do you go about asserting ‘your best interests’? And what do you do about the competing self-interests from others? Whoever wrote that no man is an island realized a truth that impacts on what we may want – that what we believe we want is rarely, if ever, in isolation to the world you live in.
How can you act to attain your goals without ignoring others’ goals? And more important how do you resolve conflicts? Perhaps the question should be – are the goals irreconcilable? Can you attain yours as well as the other person attaining theirs? We seem to act in a competitive manner before we ever assess whether there is conflict. Silly waste of time and effort. Whether or not there really is conflict, is it irreconcilable or mutually exclusive? Not compromise, necessarily, but can we work together so that both our goals can be attained?
Not always does your goal come last, though there may be times of detour or putting (fill in the blank) on hold. Sometimes it’s timing or that your goal is a ‘step 2’ and the first one needs attaining before yours can be. The ‘trick’ is to keep our emotions out of the equation. Never easy. We do seem to express our emotion of displeasure when (if) we feel our desires are being trampled upon. What’s your expression? Anger? Irritation? A toe in the sand? Martyrdom? ‘Self-sacrifice’?
Me first doesn’t always ‘work’, even for ourselves. If we can eliminate the bulk of the emotion related to the situation and take a good assessment, perhaps we can discover the best way to attain our ‘rights’, or how we can all fulfill our wants. Then again… there are times when we have to put our dream on hold until a more effective time emerges to attain the goal. My point is – 1. Never give up a dream, if it is one you truly believe in. and 2. Never assume that a ‘later’ is defined as ‘never’. The easiest and hardest act is to give it to the Lord and let Him provide the comfort for the moment and the answer.
