Yield the Brick

There is an old story about two Egyptian elders who lived together and had never quarreled.

One day one of them said, “Brother, let us quarrel just once, the way all people do.”

The other elder answered, “I don’t know how a quarrel is made.”

The first elder said, “I will place this brick between us. I will say, ‘It’s mine’, you will say, ‘No, it’s mine.’ That’s how a quarrel begins.”

The first elder placed the brick between them and said, “It’s mine.”

The second elder said, “No, it’s mine.”

The first elder said, “If it’s yours, then take it.”

And they could no longer quarrel.

What this story is attempting to teach us is the secret to peace. The strongest doesn’t always win. The one who no longer needs to be right wins.

The first elder gave up the brick, not because he had no right to it, but because he had something more precious: peace. You see, peace is not made by two people who are right; it is made by one who is silent out of love.

The strongest person in the room is not the one who shouts the loudest. It is the one who can say, “Take it. It isn’t worth losing my peace over a brick.” 

Remember, the brick will pass, but the quarrel over that brick will remain in the heart. Peace, once lost, is hard to regain.

So, what does this have to do with Myasthenia Gravis? Dealing with MG is a formidable task. It requires a great deal of strength, perseverance, and effort. Sometimes we get so caught up in battling MG that we take shortcuts in other areas of our lives. One of those shortcuts may be in our tolerance and treatment of others.

When I get especially tired, I get grumpy. I know it. I can feel it. My patience runs thin and I can feel myself on edge. I find myself easily getting into arguments. Most of the time I find myself quarreling with someone over nothing important. I’m quarreling because I’ve allowed my emotions to get the best of me and release the worst of me.

Maybe deep down inside, I feel that Myasthenia Gravis has won and I’ve lost. After all, I can’t get rid of it. Maybe that’s the reason I feel I have to win in other areas of my life, like quarrels over a stupid brick. That’s a defeatist attitude. I haven’t lost. I’m still me. I still have my mind. Most importantly, I still have my heart, and my heart tells me to love, not hate.

There are plenty of times when I slip; when I let my emotions control me, but when I finally come to my senses, I realize that the wrong emotions are just cries for help. The right emotions show my strength and resilience. The right emotions help remind me to seek peace, even if that means not winning.

That doesn’t mean we should always just roll over and let people take advantage of us. Sometimes things are important enough to fight for. What it does mean is we should pick our battles and be compassionate when peace is more important than winning.

I choose to Yield the Brick. I choose to let go of things that bother me that truly aren’t important. I choose to always protect myself when I need to but seek peace when it’s appropriate. 

Sometimes earning a smile from someone is worth more than losing a brick.