Give CREDIT - where CREDIT is due ...

Drum roll please …. I shall now offer up an alternative meaning for this commonly used expression ….

At the heart of it, the martial arts environment is a social environment. As such, we develop many friendships along the way, some of them fleeting, some of them lasting a lifetime.
The friendships we all make in our martial arts lifestyle can be impacted upon by many forces – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. It can be the case that we evolve into becoming the harshest critics of our close friends and family – oft times, more harsh than perhaps we would be with absolute strangers. It might be worth considering the following – alternative view …
If we have had a long-standing relationship with someone; a relationship that has been, by and large, a healthy and mutually beneficial one – then my feeling is that this gives our ‘friend’ considerable ‘CREDIT’ in the relationship bank. That is, if, for one reason or another, we have a small problem with that person (perhaps they say something or do something we don’t approve of) then we need to dip into some of the considerable CREDIT they have built up with us over the years – and let the ‘problem’ slide. I have said it before, everyone’s lives go through peaks and valleys, highs and lows – we should all develop the ability to give our friends the ‘benefit of the doubt’ when things go pear-shaped – because, if we think about it, perhaps they have built up a lot of relationship credit with us over the years – and we need to allow them to spend a little of it every now and then. If the person we have a problem with is a virtual stranger, okay – walk away from the meet – but if it is a lifelong friend – check the credit vault first – maybe they have a big pile of credit in there they will by them a ‘seasons pass’ – maybe there’s enough credit in there to buy them a ‘lifetime pass’. Give credit – where credit is due.
Best wishes all,
JBW