< to know when to fight. and when to walk >

This is nothing about me making my personal experience an ideal. This is more of a testimony to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. And today is Pentecost!!! In a very shocking way, He taught me something that brought me peace like a river in an instant – and may help you going forward.

I’ll cut the long story short. This “super-silly” customer care rep (and this is me trying to be nice) started talking at me rudely – to my face! The temptation was to cure her madness by saying something that’d momentarily shutdown her brain, something like, “Hey, young lady, why are you being an idiot here? You see how albino you look, right? You can imagine that the complexion of your face will be exactly that of red oil if I give you the resounding slap you rightly deserve for speaking to a customer in such an uncouth manner.” Read that again in Queen’s English. lol!

On the contrary, I found myself suddenly, surprisingly, and immediately turning my back at her and walking away. And I’d zoomed off with such speed that the said human being started begging me to come back, I guess, fearing what I may come back with. Not saying a word, not looking back, not to mention going back to escalate my case up the chain of command…

While I walked, feeling very weak for not having manned up, for not having proven a point to her, that people shouldn’t be spoken to in such an uncouth manner, for letting go of my hard-earned money, a word of knowledge ministered to me, “Don’t be so blinded by your ego that you couldn’t see the end from the beginning.” While still trying to recover from the shock of those words, it continued, “Yes, you’d have won; yes, you’d have gotten your money back, but will the cost of being right you’d have had to pay be worth it?” And while I was trying to figure out the meaning of those words, it concluded, “I who gives you power to get wealth will make up for that.” Funnily, he already did, as I’d gotten multiples of the disputed amount minutes earlier.

Upon further reflection, I realized the following:

1. She knew she’s at fault and was only trying to transfer her liability to me. Why? Because her company will fix her mess from her very next salary. She was kinda fighting for her life. lol!

2. To win the case, I’d need to first get very angry at her for trying to rub off her mess on me. Then spend all the time I’d be needing to establish my case, and still wait for the “management to sit” before a decision is reached.

3. Would I have tried to correct her, to make her a better person for next time? But I’m not her Lord and saviour na. lol!

Don’t get me wrong, there are times when sticking to your guns and fighting to the death is a sacred duty. We need wisdom to know those times. But there are times when walking away is also a sacred duty, when the first isn’t worth it one bit, when you’ve to labour to prove a point that ain’t worth it.

It’s important to always calculate your fight’s worth, so you don’t end up losing even when you win. Like Kenny Rogers’s gambler, know when to walk away, know when to run.

Your No.1 fan,
Cornel