Bill+G’s+OpEd+Article

by Bill G.**
 * "Choose Your Battles Wisely"

Independent and differed thought is a beautiful mechanism used to further ideals and social progress. Expression is a beautiful gift used to vocalize these differences. However, more often than not, people feel the need to express every ideal with outlandish rage, corroding all credibility from the statement. A declaratory demand to consider looses weight when you declare equality upon all your thoughts. There is a means to emphasis while trying to convince people that your ideals are important. Throughout time, the wise have attempted to communicate the idea that discretion in your passion for argument will thwart unnecessary conflict and will in turn lead to prosperity in understanding and peace at heart and quite possibly in a literal since. Proverbs 8:12 reads, “I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.” It is true that wisdom and prudence, knowledge and discretion do walk hand in hand. The common advice goes, “choose your battles wisely.” And so it is keen advice. For your strength and conscious vitality to fight for something you love only goes so deep and shouldn’t be wasted on shallow mishaps which mean nothing to you. The message is not only conveyed in deep philosophy. As children we are taught the message of discretion in a simplistic yet wise manner in the simple nursery rhyme, “the boy who cried wolf”. Even our games revolve around the wise ideal such as Risk. By the age of ten it is incredibly obvious that when you spread yourself blindly thin, demise is sure to follow. Discretion is also critical for reasons other than preservation and internal development of wisdom. When a man holds his tongue it is astonishing how much more he will hear and furthermore, contemplate. If one rants upon issues simply to hear the sound of their maturing voice, they miss out on opportunities to learn. For too often, in an attempt to develop a stance you convince yourself of one side of the argument without weighing the complexities. Look at the reform on healthcare for example. I have heard innumerous friends rant about it as illogical because it will decimate our economy and destroy the quality of healthcare. Likewise I have heard countless friends ramble on about how it is an infallible bill which further proves how malicious and careless Republicans are. Isn’t this a key example of how the inability to listen leads to unnecessary anger and misconception? I can honestly say I am undecided on the effects of the reform though I am hopeful yet guarded. I can also say that if I was decided I would not cast my opinion so exuberantly. For as those around me would become privy to my indiscretion, they would be less likely to communicate maturely with me. And this would be a great loss. So one must take from this that it is perfectly alright to be undecided on an issue. In fact, in many cases, it is preferable, so your bias does not alter your ability to consume fact. I am not here to judge people or tell them they are bad for ranting. Likewise in my communication of this I only limelight my hypocrisy through rants I have made in the past (a habit I hope to evade further more) and quite possibly with the statement I make now, for in turn it is not my battle. I only wish to shed some advice, for italics only provide emphasis when they are applied to //one// word.media type="file" key="billg-muckraker-0910.mp3"