Posted by TerryS (24.24.79.72) on August 14, 2001 at 16:08:28:
THE MOST IMPORTANT TRIP YOU MAY EVER TAKE
It is accurately said that it is easy to be an angel when nobody
ruffles your feathers. But it seems that feather rufflers will
always be around.
We're told that 19th Century German statesman Prince Otto von
Bismarck once became so incensed at the criticism of a professor
(he must have ruffled the prince's feathers), that he challenged
him to a duel. Protocol had it that the one challenged was to
have the choice of weapons.
The professor made his choice...sausages! He sent word to
Bismarck, along with a pair of sausages, that one sausage was
safe to eat. The other had been poisoned with trichinae, which
would cause a slow and lingering death, or at least long
invalidism. He informed the prince that he should choose which
sausage to eat and said he would eat the other one.
Bismarck reasoned that a man might die with some sort of honor on
a dueling field, but never by food poisoning. He sent the message
back, "His highness has destroyed the sausages and asks that you
be his guest at dinner this evening. After due consideration he
feels he may have been slightly in error. He believes an
agreement can be reached."
One of the most important trips a person ever takes is "to meet
someone halfway." Bismarck met his adversary halfway and chose to
bring something useful from his conflict.
When others ruffle our feathers, we always have a choice. We can
meet them on the dueling field, where one will clearly win and
the other will lose, or we can meet them halfway. Even armed only
with words, we can seek to hurt or we can seek a solution.
The choice we make will make all the difference.
> by Steve Goodier
Right now I'm trying to do what my BOSS what's but somewhere were going to have to meet in the middle.