A Sea of Grey

Reading the news as often as I do, one thought continues to be brought to the forefront of my consciousness-

When did we lose the ability to compromise?

When did the world become black and white, where every decision is either right or it’s wrong, with no room left over to find common ground? Has the level of discourse fallen to such a state where you’re either 100% with us, or 100% against us?

A real democracy, a true democracy, thrives only when all voices get heard and acknowledged. When those voices come together, win a little, lose a little and meet somewhere in the middle, that’s consensus. That’s where everyone leaves the table feeling annoyed, disappointed yet also satisfied in doing their job.

The world where I live is filled with grey areas, where you’re never going to get everything you want. Because in order for you win so completely, someone else has to lose completely. And that just fosters more ill will, less conversation and even harder stances in the future.

Now of course there are things that cannot be compromised on, but I’d like to focus on what can be.

Yesterday, on the way to skating lessons, my 4-year old twins were sharing a bag of parsnip chips (yeah, my wife is mean). When they got to the bottom of the bag, they began arguing over who would have the last chip.

If I were to believe that the only way out of this was to give one child the chip, then the other would have been angry.

Instead, I stuck my hand to the back seat, and asked them each to give me a chip.

A few minutes later, one of them proudly declared that he was eating the last chip. Before his sister could get angry, I reminded them of the two chips I had. I gave one to each of them, and then counted down for both of them to take a bite.

Neither of them was happy they couldn’t claim victory, but neither were they angry. They were satisfied with the resolution.

Compromise, folks, we need to bring that back.

…and in the interest of full disclosure, of course I took a few chips for myself while they were arguing.

-Because I Can.

Quote of the Day

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
-Winston Churchill