A principle I have long felt is that it is wrong to pick your battles. Every battle is worth fighting, and if you have the strength to breathe, you have the strength to fight.

It wasn't until I was married that I have learned it's best to not let small slights provoke a war. It is a matter of peace, and peace is concessions.

Men tend to be lead by either their heart of their head. As a boy, it was my heart that directed me. However, the burning passion of my youth has been replaced by a lonely, cold, and exacting logic. My mind controls every decision, every action, and at times it stifles my heart.

It is true glory to live fueled by passion. But as the years wear on, logic erodes those flames. While it would be nice to live with the heart and the mind in consensus, it is not always possible, as those with any experience in life are sure to instinctively understand. And so one must decide, "Is it my heart that leads me? Or is it my mind?" As with anything, peace comes only with concessions. It is certianly okay to live following wither prime motivator, but regardless of the choice, concessions WILL be made.

I have a family. I have a wonderful wife with amazing children. They are my heart. Also in my heart: defiance. Uncontrollable, call-to-the-wild, blind and stubborn defiance. In my mind, I know the value of peace and the merits of its safety.

Everywhere I look in America, I am disgusted. For us to dream ourselves such marvels, and yet to live as caged creatures with illusory freedoms..it's difficult to swallow and I would do just about anything to change it. However, my mind knows better. My mind knows peace and safety. Not for me, something I've never seemed concerned with, but for the things which I love. My cherished loved ones.

I see things changing globally. I would love to be apart of it, but I know that in America, change will be violent. Not because those pushing a movement for change are violent...but because of the violence that permeates through the souls of many men. Some will use the opportunity for change to suffice their own avarice and the myriad facets of vice. What is intended to be good, spoils to the rot which we seek to eradicate because the evil we wish to destroy in others lives in us as well.

So while my heart longs for change, my mind knows it as suffering for all the trials that would have to be overcome. Those required for change, but especially those needless trials brought upon by the violence, greed, and ignorance of others.

In all of this, however, I am lucky. I have food enough for my family and I. Money enough for a house over our heads. I have the ability to go to school without needing a job..without owing someone my soul. And I am certainly nothing extraordinary, so if I am in such a positive position, how can I truly complain on the woes of America and the world over?

I have digressed, but here I converge. My heart wants what it wants but my mind knows what is best. Concessions for peace are worth it.

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