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Today's
Meditation:
There
are so many ways that I can think of this image, but the
one that leaps to mind every time I read these words is
the idea of arguing with someone who's done something
hurtful to try to get them to see how damaging their
actions are. In my experience, people who are
willing to hurt others aren't usually interested in
knowing just what kind of harm they've done--they want to
continue to feel the self-righteousness that allowed them
to do something mean and inconsiderate in the first place.
I see the idea of wrestling with a pig as similar to a
conflict with just such a person. These people will
reduce logic to a shambles, because logic doesn't
matter to them. They'll stand there and say
"So?" when you point out just how much damage
they've caused. Just like wrestling with a pig, we
can spend tons of energy trying to reason with such
people, never reaching any sort of satisfactory
conclusion. And as they watch you try to reason with
them, they're enjoying the discomfort you're experiencing
because of their unwillingness to respond to logic.
Am I calling such people pigs? I don't know--I
certainly wouldn't call anyone a pig in the generally
negative way we tend to use the term. But I do know
that the analogy fits--expending lots of energy to
accomplish the unaccomplishable (I know--it's not really a
word), and adding to the enjoyment of someone else who
doesn't really deserve to be enjoying a situation.
So I don't do it any more. It's called
"choosing your battles," and some types of
battles simply aren't worth choosing. If you need a
pig to do something, go find someone who knows how to make
pigs do things, for you don't necessarily need to do
everything yourself. And don't give the pigs the
enjoyment of watching you get yourself dirty due to
frustration and annoyance. Let the pigs be pigs, and
choose more logical battles.
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