If a battle cannot be won, do not fight it.

Wise words from an old Samurai.

But what is the meaning of this besides just not fighting a battle if you believe you cannot win. Well there can be many different ways to look at this depending on your background.

One can look at this as a cowardly way out of avoiding battle. This is not the case. This refers to the belief that you have the strength and knowledge to win the battle. If you do not have the belief that you can win why are you going into battle? There is no honour in dying a wasteful death.

A second way of looking at this is to pick your battle wisely. Too many people are quick to jump the gun and get into conflicts and arguments without thinking. This shows poor judgment on their part. All battles, arguments, conflicts, and so on are already pre-determined by who has mentally prepared ahead of time. One of the quickest way to lose is by not knowing all the facts.

Another way is to look at it from a peace stand point. Why be so eager to engage in battle or conflict with another person or group? Shouldn’t we be trying to be peaceful with everyone? Wouldn’t you rather make more friends and allies than enemies? Even if you won a battle or conflict against someone else, did you really win?

There is plenty of ways you can look at these ancient words of wisdom but one thing for sure that holds truth regardless of what day of age you live in is you must choose your battles wisely. Not all of them are worth it.

Master Jonathan Field