An inevitability in life is having to face challenges, which when addressed, evolve into confrontations or “battles”.  You have two choices: engage; or not engage.  Before you decide, be mindful of the importance of being selective in those you choose to fight, because if you fight too many, you’ll end up losing them all.  Thus you need to foretell the future as best you can  and consider the ramifications either way — but this is admittedly no “walk in the park”.

Nevertheless, there are situations where your decision is easy, because there is only ONE choice . . . and that is to FIGHT with every spare ounce of energy you can possibly muster. And should this altercation become increasingly protracted, dispiriting you along the way, you must NEVER give up.  And if you later reach the point of emotionally breaking, while reeling from utter exhaustion . . . it is then time to KICK IT UP ANOTHER NOTCH! . . . because you must ALWAYS defend your good name, and recognize failure is NOT an option.

The video presented below features a collection of hilariously modified events reported in the national media, helping to drive home the following points:

• Pick Your Battles — There are some battles that are just not worth fighting, for your energies would be better served pursuing productive endeavors.
• Protect Your Good Name — If your personal character and/or professional competence are wrongfully affronted, you MUST fight such attacks and NEVER relent in your quest to prevail with the “TRUTH”.
• Understand the Dangerous Downside — If you don’t defend your reputation, you are affirming such smears, and saying to unsavory others;  “Hey you out there!!  I’m a human piñata, so come and get your swings in !” Unfortunately, there is a macabre tendency in some people to want to “pile on” in such situations . . . in other words, kick’em when they’re down.
• Recognize You Would Otherwise Be Supporting Bullies — Worse yet, by not defending yourself from false and malicious accusations, you are encouraging those who attack you to do likewise to others.  Accordingly, this is an arena where EVERYONE MUST BE A LEADER.

Note: There is ONE exception to the rule of ALWAYS protecting your reputation — if you have built a public persona based on fraud and deceit, DON’T YOU DARE try to protect something that should have NEVER existed . . . for the time has come to expose those frauds and dismantle kakistocracies wherever they may exist in the public and private sectors — for by doing so, we will “replace the worst with the very best”. . . as it should be.  This will bring back integrity to the notion of rewarding productive achievement, and unleash the infectious “yes we can” spirit in many others that could very well become the long-elusive solution for high unemployment.  And this is not just a catchy political slogan . . . it’s an empirically proven FACT.