Why Do We Continue Fighting?
People in sales fight battles every day. Their toughest battle is within themselves, trying to stay focused on doing the things that are productive while not allowing non-productive things to consume their time. Seldom do I write off-the-wall articles or share my views on political issues but I feel compelled to write about this because not only does it relate to sales people, but it relates to people in general.
It has been almost 150 years since the Civil War and the battle is still being fought today. I’m not referring to race but to life in general. The American Civil War began in 1861 between the “Union,” the “North” and the “Confederacy” the “South.” Over 600,000 Americans died in this war to abolish slavery. The war ended in 1865, officially, but the losses were so great that a semi-silent war has continued until this day. Bear with me for a moment and you’ll see where I’m going.
The North has always had industrial manufacturing which provided its wealth. The South found solace through religion while laboring on farms and lower wage jobs. The people in the North speak directly, straight forward, which seems offensive to their southern counterpart. People from the South are more thoughtful and considerate in their conversations. Northern people eat more steamed vegetables while people in the South slow-cook their vegetables until they are well done. The North is cold and the South is hot. The North uses very little seasoning in their food while the South uses lots of seasoning. The North is politically more liberal while the South is more conservative. The list goes on and on of opposing views between the North and the South but we’re all Americans. We are different people by nature due to the environments of our youth. However, when we meet on the street you can’t tell by looking if someone is from the North, South, East or West. In some cases we can’t even tell if they are Americans or where they came from.
People are competitive by nature. But, competition doesn’t justify the continuation of a war fought 150 years ago. Football is the favorite sport of many American families. At the end of each season, there will be bowl games pitting the North against the South; the Blue against the Grey; the East against the West. In many cases when people have different points of view, people claim discrimination which causes a continuation of friction between races. Two universities in the same state have so much hatred for each other; they pull for the schools in another state to beat their home-state school.
There is a period of time required after a war for healing. I think we are well beyond the point of healing but it seems that our society has turned into a vindictive people. Rather than doing unto others what we would have them do unto us; we seem to have adopted the philosophy that we should do unto others before they get a chance to do it to us. I know that is an old cliché but it has never been truer. The spinal cord of the American government has been badly bruised and is deteriorating near to the point of paralysis. Our governing bodies have both stooped to the lowest level of service since the foundation of America. Democrats and Republicans are only interested in winning their contest for the benefits of their party. What’s best for our country, what’s best for Americans, what’s best for our future is totally meaningless. Personally, I feel it is time we take back control of our county. That means we must clean house in Washington, it’s so filthy anyway, it needs a good purification.
Healing begins with us individually. It requires us to think positive and practice morality. If we as a people continue to travel our current path, it will be to our own destruction. We have enjoyed the freedom of living in the best country in the world but we are insuring that our children will never have the joys and maybe the freedoms we have had. Successful sales people live by a special code of ethics. We treat our customers as though they are always right and we show them the respect they deserve and demand. All humanity should be respectful to others. If all people would treat people the way they want to be treated; most of the significant problem would disappear and this would be a much better place to live. The key is, it’s up to us to change our own actions which will cause others to change. If we will lead, others will follow. It takes less muscles to smile than it does to frown but more times than not we walk around with a sour attitude and a frown on our face. This is a strong sign of unhappiness but I can tell you how to change; simply smile. If you smile at people, they will smile back. If you are respectful to people, they will be respectful to you. Whatever you do to others, they will do to you.
Let’s put all the reminders of the Civil War behind us by voicing our displeasure of all the ways we are encouraged to keep it going. We would be much better off if we focused on being a loving, caring person that showed respect to all people.
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