What’s worth fighting for?

With another US election cycle stirring up strong political opinions, it’s amazing how much time, energy and emotion we can spend in arguing over who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s to blame and who should be in charge.

Here’s what I know for certain: regardless of who is in office, governments will continue to govern. There will be laws, regulations, taxes, duties, spending decisions and policies we didn’t author. The faces and policies may change, but the machinery of government keeps running, whichever hand is on the wheel.

So, if the outcome is largely the same, what exactly are we arguing about?

And more importantly, when we are arguing, what are we giving away?

With Remembrance Day approaching, I find myself thinking less about celebration and more about cost. 

I mean that as an act of honour.

Because here’s the part that bites: war doesn’t end when the fighting stops.  It follows people home. It lives in bodies, in families, in nervous systems, in empty chairs at kitchen tables. The men and women we call heroes often return carrying wounds no ceremony can touch.

A combat solider in the 60’s was asked what message he had for the men of the future.  His response? “Don’t send your sons to finish a war that politicians started”.

Maybe remembrance is not only about looking back but looking honestly at what we are consenting to right now.

Aha! ~ Don’t lose sight of what you’re fighting for while deciding what you’re fighting against.

What are we willing to sacrifice our health for?

What are we willing to sacrifice our peace of mind for?

Who benefits when ordinary people are divided, exhausted, afraid, and pointing fingers at one another?

You don’t need a party, a politician or anyone’s permission slip.

Your health, your mind, your family, your faith, your work, your right to question, to build, to speak, to choose.  Those are not small things.  They are the whole thing.

Freedom isn’t something we just talk about, vote for or commemorate. It’s something we must actively exercise in the lives we lead and the choices we make every single day.

The world will almost always offer up another fight … and most of them aren’t worth your life force.

Personally I don’t take sides because once that happens, curiosity falls off and defending the side kicks in.  I like to stay open, stay healthy, stay productive, stay human.  More on it all in Human U Wednesday at 5:00 pm EST.   Email me [email protected] for the zoom link to join the conversation.