Pick Your Battles

When it comes to advocacy, or anything else, I guess, I've learnt that it's important to choose your battles carefully.

For example, several months ago I had planned to write a letter to the editor for the local paper in response to negative comments made towards people on assistance by a couple politicians. First, I wrote the letter as a blog post then, so my bases were covered, I passed it along to my manager at work, who suggested I also speak about it with the department's media rep. Both recommended not including direct reference to any of the politicians involved.

So, I sat on the letter for a few days and ultimately decided not to send it in. I had more than enough reasons to submit the letter and get my opinion out there but, in the end I felt like actually having a job and doing well at it was setting a better example than trashing a couple politicians ever would have.

I think I made the right decision. It saved me a lot of time and probable trouble, and taught me that there are just times when it's better to keep my mouth shut (or fingers off the keyboard maybe?) and choose the path of least resistance.

Cheers