Ideals or Non-Negotiables

There’s a difference between the ideal, and the non-negotiable.

We aspire to the ideal. But there isn’t much outrage if we fail to live it out, since we tend to treat it as a great goal, but something that may not always be practical in this non-perfect world in which we live.

But if something’s non-negotiable, it’s a whole different story. Of course we’ll act that way, or do this thing–it’s non-negotiable. Not living up to it isn’t even an option.

So the question is, In our life, in our work, in our relationships, what are our non-negotiables? Because it’s possible that we may be treating some things that should be non-negotiable as merely ideal. And doing so makes it that much easier to sidestep them when things get difficult.