“You may have to give up on wealth and power if you want to attain happiness and freedom.” – Epictetus

Compromise. It is the essence of all well built relationships. Whether it be a business partnership of an intimate partnership we all have to compromise and allow the other person to have an equal voice in the relationship. A significant part of respect is entertaining ideas that you do not agree with. Compromise.

There is an area where compromise will not serve you. That is internal compromise. When you make concessions to yourself in order to accomplish something that you might not be able to had you remained steadfast in your principles you end up trading more than you should to get less than you should.

It starts with little things. A small step, a cheat on something you have resolved to remain steadfast on. Everyone has those lines we have drawn for ourselves. It is weakness to cross them, we know this, we are accountable to ourselves for it, and still we routinely will cross those lines to get a little instant gratification or to feel like we’ve moved ahead just a little bit.

It’s odd as well, we make those deals with ourselves. If anyone else promised us they would hold that line and then crossed it we would want them held accountable but we somehow are able into talking ourselves into crossing those lines all the time. Stop. No more. From here on out, resolve to never compromise with your inner voice.

virtus fortis vocat