The imaginary battlefield: Special dedication to all fighters in this realm
We are quick to decide on the way forward and implement fighting strategies for imaginary battles than even death which is certain to happen to each one of us at any point in time. The question is: Are you an invisible battle fighter? You can decide for yourself after reading this short post.
Will begin with a few common scenarios:
(Phone rings)……you look at the caller ID…… “Oh no! not again! What do I have to say to this person, I am tired of his calls requesting one thing or the other.” You dread to pick up the call but you decide against your best judgement to do so anyway…….
You are at a wedding and you spot an old colleague. You smile at the person and although he is staring directly in your direction is unmoved and doesn’t respond back. The person then looks the other way to engage in conversation with other people. Your wide smile freezes then slowly disappears like the fool the person has made you out to be….What makes it worse is when you see the person going round saying hi to others but he never made any attempt to make it to where you are seated.
You spoke the truth to a colleague or friend and the next day the person doesn’t talk with you as he usually does. You begin to give attitude because you think the person is mad at you. You also ignore the person.
These are a few of frequent happenings we encounter. More often than not, we mentally create our own battles and fight them although they might be non-existent most of the time. We stop talking to people just because we think they ignored or snubbed us. We begin to develop ill-feelings towards them and worst we might go round spreading this imaginary and non-existent one-sided nurtured beef to others.
Meanwhile on the other side this is what actually happened;
“Oh it’s been a while I called Opie, I am always bothering her with favours and requests. Let me surprise her with a call to check up on her.” And there you were busily rolling your eyes saying to yourself “oh no! not again! What is he calling to ask for this time? How do I respond to her?” At least you picked the call but you would have developed a different perception of the person if you had ignored the call.
The old colleague you believe did not biz you, didn’t even see you, he was probably looking in your direction but her attention was focused on something or someone else. Maybe a wave from your end would have caught his attention. Alternatively, he was probably distracted from his course towards where you were seated by something else she had to attend to. Had that not occurred she would have noticed you. Imagine!
The person you believe is not talking to you because you expressed yourself might also just be having a bad day or probably experiencing one of those days where they need to be alone.
How many times have you had baseless issues with people just because you assumed they were gossiping about you or because you believe they are the cause of whatever you are currently going through in life?
We all react and deal differently with issues but just a thought………..
Before you decide to engage in any imaginary brawls ask yourself these questions:
- Have I concluded or made any assessments with an open mind?
- Did I conclude prematurely?
- Was I fair in my assessments?
- Did I give the other party an opportunity to explain themselves?
- Would I have liked it if I were treated the same way? How would you feel or react if you were in their shoes?
If you go through all these and still believe there is a battle to be fought then please YOUR HONOUR you may proceed to get your weapons ready for the imaginary battle but remember that after all is said and done, ask yourself, “what did you benefit from this in the end?” Probably an imaginary medal!
Life is short, make the best out of the time you have here on earth. A little grudge today might end up in eternal guilt and remorse because the person died and you didn’t have the opportunity to clear things out. If you still need to engage in an invisible battle, then please direct that energy into spiritual prayer and fasting since the spiritual realm needs more fighters.
What more can I say?
NB: Even as I type this post I am trying to diffuse the bomb from my imaginary battle by seeing things from the person’s perspective to avoid all the unnecessary mental drain and stress on me (the opponent might not even be aware there is a raging battle).
I am OMT, a human (not an alien 🙂 ) and I never said it was going to be easy but let’s start making the effort to channel our energy towards more positivity and less negativity.
