Spite or Solve: A Choice

Arguments happen every day.

Heated conversations take place all the time.

Disagreements come into light between honorable people.

Life is contentious at times. What do we do?

• Do we fight to the bitter end?
• Do we use unflattering names?
• Do we stall or filibuster until we get our way?
• Do we let problems fester until everything fails?
• Do we say one thing and then do another?

Life is in motion. What do we do?

• Do we listen to the differences and then find middle ground?
• Do we look for solutions?
• Do we evaluate alternatives?
• Do we put progress above stagnation?
• Do we find what can be done in order to realize a higher goal or purpose?

We have a choice – in our nation, our community, our family, and our organization – as to whether or not we foster an attitude of spite or solution, deadlock or growth, selfishness or humanity.

Maybe the question is, simply, how do we want to be remembered?

• Do we want to be remembered as angry fools or savvy problem solvers?
• Do we want to be remembered for failures or advancements?
• Do we want to be viewed as holding back or moving forward?

It seems to me that we need to make this choice as an individual and as a society. Read the newspapers, where are we heading? Read the faces of the people in your organization, where are you moving? Look into the eyes of your family members and neighbors, what reflection do you see?

Let us not allow this decade to be viewed as one of divisiveness and decay. Let us lift up this decade as the one in which we rose to the challenge and solved problems for the greater good, higher ideals, and betterment of generations to come.

Let this be our work as a nation, a community, an organization, a family, and an individual. It is our responsibility to do better.