The Most Important Trip You May Ever
Take
It is accurately said that it is easy to be an angel
when nobody ruffles your feathers. But it seems that
feather-rufflers will always be around.
We're told that 19th Century German statesman
Prince Otto von Bismarck once became so incensed at the
criticism of a professor, that he challenged him to a
duel. Protocol had it that the one challenged was to have
the choice of weapons.
The professor made his choice... sausages!
He sent word to Bismarck, along with a pair of
sausages,that one sausage was safe to eat. The other had
been poisoned with trichinae which would cause a slow and
lingering death, or at least long invalidism. He informed
the prince that he should choose which sausage to eat and
said he would eat the other one.
Bismarck reasoned that a man might die with some sort of
honor on a dueling field, but never by food poisoning. He
sent the message back,
"His highness has destroyed the sausages and asks
that you be his guest at dinner this evening. After due
consideration he feels he may have been slightly in
error. He believes an agreement can be reached."
One of the most important trips a person ever takes is to
meet someone half way. Bismarck met his adversary half
way and chose to bring something useful from his
conflict.
When others "ruffle our feathers," we always
have a choice.
We can meet them on the dueling field, where one will
clearly win and the other lose, or we can meet them half
way. Even armed only with words, we can seek to hurt or
we can seek a solution.
The choice we make will make all the difference.
Steve Goodier
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