C is for compromise

[Image credit: sippakorn]

I live in the Southwest where we don’t turn the clocks back an hour for Daylight Saving Time, or set them an hour ahead in the fall.  And most of my family and friends live in the Midwest or East Coast, which means we are up to three hours off.  So scheduling visits or making phone calls can be challenging and oftentimes doesn’t happen because we missed that “window” of opportunity.  Not too long ago, an East Coast friend would wait until I tried to accomplish all of my tasks before we hopped online.  It finally got to the point where compromise seemed a better solution; i.e., visit while it’s still relatively early on their end, and I can finish what I need to once we’ve said our goodnights.  Of course it’s tempting to visit longer, but keeping disciplined allows my friend to log a sufficient amount of Zzzs and me to get my stuff done.  Compromise doesn’t mean we have to sacrifice our friendship; it simply means making concessions for the good of it.  Imagine all the areas in life that could benefit from a little bit of compromise.

Do you demand your own way, or is compromise your middle name?

Fighting for me, myself and I

[Image credit: gameanna]

Sometimes I feel like it’s just me, myself and I — that if I want something done right, I need to do it myself.  Or that if I don’t speak up about whatever it is, no one else will.  A friend and I were talking one day, and I made a comment about feeling as if I’m always the one who does the fighting for; i.e., mending, working on, making concessions, planning, etc., — particularly in relationships.  And how it would be nice, for a change, to be the one being fought for.  My friend told me in order for that to happen, I need to fight for myself first.  A poignant thought, yet she wasn’t the first person to speak that truth to me.  Although not verbatim, the concept was the same.  But fighting for ourselves takes on a unique identity for each of us in order to meet us where we’re at.  Perhaps you’re feeling stuck in a dead-end job; fight for a new one.  Or maybe your marriage has died; either resuscitate it, or read it the last rites.  We can talk ourselves blue in the face, but talk doesn’t create results.  Action does.  And guess what?  You may eventually discover you’re no longer alone in the ring.

Who’s your biggest advocate?