Your take on this motto please

by caliber 3 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  caliber

  Your need to prove someone wrong is not a battle between you and the person you are trying to prove wrong. It is a battle within yourself."

  ~Jen Reynolds

  The very nature of a debate or chat line is to discuss, to give your thoughts and views

  The word "need" above seems to convey desperation

  Are there issues so important that it requires a battle-like stance ?

  What is the fear if others see things differently ?

  What are some reasons for a "go to the wall stance ?"

  A need to vent supressed emotions, to save or protect others from harm

  or doubt or even guilt about past stands or lifestyles lived ?
• 

  BluesBrother

  I can only give an example. If , say, a relative of mine was so determined to stick to the J W rules on blood so that a niece or nephew were to die as a consequence.....I would see a need to try and change their mind ...

  On lesser issues , I can agree with your motto, even if I did not always manage to avoid the temptation to attempt to prove my point, being human..
• 

  tiki

  i don't think it is necessarily true. it depends on the motive of the person endeavoring to convince the other. if you truly care for someone's wellbeing, and you can see that they are making ill decisions that will likely come back to haunt them, you would be remiss not to try to persuade them to change their thinking pattern. that has nothing to do with self - it is borne of love and caring. if though, a person is simply stubbornly argumentative and believes irrationally that he is right and the rest of the world wrong, then that motto can apply.
• 

  caliber

  thanks Bluesbrother ... your statements make sense to me

  where I fall into the trap of "needing to convince "is when my motives for saying or doing something

  are called into question. Still it is nearly never worth the battle created because then the other person's

  charactor or ablility to concern peoples actions are called into question.. they in turn feel insulted or belittled or judged

  tiki ..so true we should not likewise attribute wrong motives to others.. but in the heat of the moment this is so easy to do

  ( sorry for the dark black, I tried to highlight your name and couldn't cancel the rest )

  Negative emotions appear mainly to result from negative beliefs and conditioning deep in the sub-conscious... the driving force in our actions & decision making