This seems to be a dangerous trend in the minds of our young people, who are being taught to be intolerant of anything except what they want.  We read story after story about teens who feel they deserve the very best of everything, and who are unwilling to compromise and accept anything but exactly what they want.  They seem to be taking lessons from people like Elbert Hubbard, who said, "It is the weak man who urges compromise--never the strong man."

What a crock.  Some of the strongest people in the world have been masters of compromise.  Mother Teresa, Mikhael Gorbachev and Nelson Mandela come to mind.

Compromise shows a willingness to try to understand that there are other options available other than the ones we've originally considered.  It's a willingness to consider the validity of other people's perspectives, to consider the possibility that someone else may have a better idea than we do.  If I "back down" and agree to see the movie my wife wants to see instead of the one I originally wanted to see, what have I lost?  Absolutely nothing, and my willingness to compromise has more than likely helped our relationship.  It's certainly helped me to feel more peace of mind.

There are some things that we never should compromise, especially our ethics and our values.  But such a compromise means that we're making a decision to do something that directly contradicts what we know to be ethical.  Compromise can be one of the most powerful tools available to us in our quest to lead a full life, as long as we can learn to recognize when compromise is appropriate.  Compromise means that our happiness isn't tied to a certain outcome or course of action, which frees us up to be ourselves, and to let others in our lives be themselves, too.