Discussion: Dealing With Enemies

In life, those who keep mostly to themselves and those who refuse to stand for what they believe in, who sometimes even refuse to believe in anything at all to avoid the challenge of standing for something real and worthwhile… they will have very few enemies. Then there’s us - to be clear, I'm not saying everyone who has enemies is a Sith, just that everyone who is Sith is liable to have enemies. And if you don't, I wonder what right you have to claim you forge your values, or live by them, if you do it so little that no one notices.

If you're living your life on your own terms, some people will inevitably notice. Some of them won't like what they see; whether it's jealousy or plain spite, doesn't really matter. There will be people who have or come up with reasons to stand in your way if you're trying to achieve something (i.e. jealousy), people who will try shutting you up because they're to afraid to speak their minds and don't think it's fair you were born with the balls to (i.e. resentment), and people who get in your way as a byproduct of living by their own values and are allowing that living to carry them into conflict with you, even as you do the same, bringing you into conflict.

Just how it goes.

One of the best sentiments I've come across in regards to these people, and others like them, comes from Ayn Rand: "never think of pain or danger or enemies a moment longer than is necessary to fight them." In coming into conflict with them the idea is to win, but you have to understand what it means to win in this context.

Conventinoal wisdom is you can't, fighting always results in losers on all sides, but that's bullshit and we all know it. This isn't grade school. Decide what your objective is going to be in any given "battle" and once you win, declare it a win and move the fuck on until or unless it/he/she/they come up again. Don't waste your energy - which is not to say let slights slide, let people beat you, or avoid engaging in conflict, quite the contrary. Hate them, get pissed at them, laugh at them, mock them, whatever you feel is appropriate and whatever is an effective motivator, use it. Achieving your objective and then continuing to expend time and energy on whatever inspired the conflict, beyond your victory, is stupid. A waste of your time and energy, which should be spent more judiciously and efficiently. By that same token, don't ever get the idea in your head having to deal with them in the first place is evidence you're doing something wrong; that's bullshit.

Many of them would like you to believe that, I'm sure, but truth is, it's evidence you're doing something right.

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Unknown: "You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life."