One of the local kids in my neighborhood found himself in a very dangerous situation. He was hanging out with some of his friends when a group of 30 kids from the next town over decided to give them a hard time.

One of them did so by way of punching him in the face and he then had a snap decision to make. Would he let his temper, pride and reflexes take over?

He walked away instead!

The obvious benefit is that he avoided a no win situation and got home safely.

I had a heart to heart with him and suggested that walking away is always an option (not just when you are out numbered)

Unfortunately, I don't offer that advice as someone who is wise, I offer it as the person who liked a good brawl and enjoyed standing up for myself. Not in a physical sense (sort of) but in the form of protecting my opinions, my values, and simply because I don't have patience for bullies of any sort.

5 years ago I made a conscious decision to exercise my right to walk away.

Why?

1) You can't change "stupid". Good luck with that one.

2) I don't like the loss of control when my ego takes me on auto pilot

3) It's a tremendous waste of energy

And for those of you who are concerned with your personal brand, it distracts from "your main thing"

So the next time you have that urge to set someone straight, right the wrong, even the score or simply tell someone to piss off . . .

Walk away knowing you did something that demonstrated a very high level of control.