120 – Pick Your Battles - a podcast by Alf Herigstad

http://www.beingabettermanpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_0954.jpg ()


PICK YOUR BATTLES…
Before I get into the content today I want to give a shout out to the newest Patron of the show, Paul Schmeider.  Paul went to the Patreon page and he is making a financial contribution to help support the production of this show.  If You appreciate the content here and would like to join Paul in keeping this content coming out three days a week, just click on this link:  >> https://www.patreon.com/Alf_beingabetterman (Patreon.com) and That will take you right to the Patreon Page where you can watch the video I made and learn all about it.
OK!  Today a listener of this show, and a former Mantoree suggested that I do an episode about picking our battles.  In light of the current political climate…I would have to agree.You can’t browse social media these days without seeing something offensive or contrary to your way of thinking…regardless of what you believe in.  I have a lot of Facebook friends, the majority of whom live in Norway, but I also have lots of relatives and friends on social media as well…as we all do. 
Right now, on my social media platforms about half of everything I have to look at is political in nature.  Many express wildly different viewpoints. Some are ok, just people making a point or expressing support for their candidate, while others are horrible, bordering on vile and insulting.  Some people broadcast insults with a very broad brush and include everyone who supports either candidate.  This, of course incites an equally vile, defensive response, and America as a whole drifts further apart.
This is to be somewhat expected in an election year…I get it.  It seems a little more intense than usual this time around though.  I find myself having to exercise extreme control…it’s difficult at times to not get sucked into some discussion that will ultimately go nowhere and probably upset someone I care about.  Right now, more than other times, it is especially important that you pick your battles.It is for this exact reason that I choose not to discuss religion or politics on this podcast, because these are things that divide people immediately.  For example, if I were to start promoting either candidate, or a third party, or lift up one religion over another on this podcast…I would lose many of you because of the decisive nature of those positions.  I prefer to concentrate on the things that make us similar rather than the things that make us different.
The things that make us similar are much more substantial as well…like, we are all human beings…of the same exact species.  We are men, we are brothers, and uncles, and fathers and sons and husbands.  We all reside on the same piece of rock that is hurling through space.  These are things that make every one of us similar, they are undeniable, dramatic, and profound things.Meanwhile the things that separate us are all like vapor, they are without mass or form…they are merely ideas, opinions and beliefs that begin as tiny electrical sparks in our brains, and they are responsible for more bloodshed than anything else in the history of the planet.
Does it have to be so?  Does our very humanity doom us to this behavior?  I personally don’t think so, not if we pick our battles.So what does all this have to do with being a better man?  Well, you have heard me say many times that our relationships are the most valuable things we possess.  With that being said…as men who are trying to be better men, it is incumbent upon us to be good stewards of those relationships.
During this election cycle I have seen friends unfriend other friends.  I have watched helplessly as family members get angry at other family members and stop talking to them because of what they posted on social media.  I have seen insults hurled, and names called and relationships in general be compromised…and for what?  Why?  Because people are reacting without thinking…you must pick

Further episodes of Being A Better Man

Further podcasts by Alf Herigstad

Website of Alf Herigstad