When I was in college I would drive into Bryan and visit the local Half Price books for paperbacks. They actually had a better selection than the regular bookstores and even back then the price of paperbacks was starting to get ridiculous so if I wanted something to read it was a good choice.
Sometimes I would pick up good thought provoking books and other times just time filling mind candy. I once picked up this techno thriller book. One of those Tom Clancy like books dealing with the military and set in the middle east. The story wasn’t anything special but a line in the book stuck with me.
A general was dealing with some tough choices concerning a battle that his army was engaged in and losing. A subordinate could tell that due to pride and bravado that the general didn’t want to take the prudent course and save his command. The subordinate took the general aside and said “It’s time to save the army”.
I used to have a problem with pride. I would get into bad situations where I had no good choices and the only prudent course would be to cut my losses and quit. Yet I would persist, even knowing that nothing I did could change the situation or make things better. I reasoned that if only I invested a little bit more into this situation then I could turn the tide. Inevitably of course I would lose and become despondent.
During one of those situations this phrase popped up in my mind.
“It’s time to save the army”
I rolled it over in my head and thought about what was going on and suddenly realized I was persisting not because I could change things but due to pride. I didn’t want to lose or fail. I immediately quit the situation and felt better about my choice.
I always applaud passion and drive but sometimes we get so caught up in the moment that we lose the big picture and our perspective gets warped. We get fixated on an objective and don’t see things logically. Some voice, maybe from inside, but often from outside has to stop you and say “It’s time to save the army”
Recent Comments