Given the reactive nature of the human mind and the power of our emotions, many people when confronted with an event have a strong tendency to leap into action. While immediate responses are sometimes necessary to take advantage of opportunities and defend against threats, there are often many strategic and practical benefits to waiting before final decisions are made and action is taken.
For the love of the Gods, Decimus, where are you running to now? It was just yesterday that you were racing to file papers in the law court decrying some slight and here you are once again running through the streets to demand redress for a new injury.
All of this frantic activity, you will forgive me for pointing out, is occurring not when the judges are at the bench eagerly waiting to read your latest 50 page list of wrongs but rather still in bed sleeping as soundly as hibernating bears in winter. The judges should be in bed sleeping Decimus because it is 5:00 a.m! At the hour that Rome is submerged in the all-enveloping darkness that momentarily suspends the world’s activities and trials Decimus is up, Decimus is in motion, Decimus is red in the face and banging on shuttered doors and windows.
Let’s have it, what was the offense? Did the olive seller laugh a bit too loud at the length of your tunic? A little short for the season? Well so what! Are you a puppet on a string that can be made to dance in angry flames each time a mocking sneer or a cutting word comes your way? Are you a weather vane that spins with the wind of every unflattering comment?
If you would bide your time but a short week, you would find that the pain of the slight, like that of a mosquito bite, disappears as quickly as it came and you come to the conclusion yourself that the best place for that ridiculous tunic is not in one of your fine mahogony dressers but rather in the garbage can.
I can see you smiling now when you recall that you yourself bought that tunic to create a stir in the marketplace. What was it you said? “This will shock that olive seller. Ha! Ha! Ha!” Why not laugh about it? Has the olive seller taken away your right to see the humor in things, even in yourself, and limited your options on earth to running through the streets before dawn? Isn’t the best remedy for someone laughing at you to laugh even louder? Should not a man be the master of his own options?
If the tunic is not thrown away, who knows? Short tunics may become the new fashion in Rome and rather than be the target of slights the wheel may turn and you will have the honor of being recognized as the first person to have started the new trend. “Decimus of the short tunic and long foresight” they will say as spaces for you are made at tables and you are asked to recount the source of your ability to see into the future.
On top of this, each time you purchase olives you will be able to look at the olive seller with the quiet noble magnaminity of a man who does not stoop to point out the mistakes of others but rather lets all trifling insults pass like the summer currents of the Tiber; meanwhile the olive seller will retain forever the painful memory of her own lack of vision and rude treatment of a loyal client.
But you say what of your large investments in the shipments of corn to Africa? You had invested a full talent but there have been rumors that the boat carrying the corn will meet rough waters and so you are desperate to sell your position in the shipment, even if it means selling at a discount of 50%. Selling at a discount of 50%, you say, is better than losing 100%.
Why so fast Decimus? Are you sure that foul weather is truly expected or could it be the case that the very person who brought you this news is hoping to buy your corn shipments at a steep discount and then resell them at a handsome profit? And perhaps they have in fact heard that rather than rains favorable winds are expected and the boat will arrive a week sooner then planned. This way the person will not only profit from buying your corn at a discount but selling at a premium price for the early arrival.
And if the rumors are true and rough seas are coming is that so clearly a reason to sell? All commercial transactions have risk and that risk was included in the price of your investment. If there was no risk why would you get a 50% return? Besides you yourself inspected the ship and the crew and decided that they are more than able to meet even the most unfavorable sailing conditions. It is other less prepared boats, rather than yours, that are not likely to hold up in inclement weather and if they do not and the supply of corn falls the price of your corn will rise. Considering the situation from this perspective, rather than selling under pressure would it not be better to consider increasing your position and profiting from your boat’s advantages?
Matters of state, you say, are different, because rather than personal reputation or profits many lives are at stake. When lives are stake, you reason, there is no time to lose. Yes, the gravity of the consequences should affect the nature of the action, but precisely because of the fact that many lives are at stake shouldn’t one strive to take the best decision possible under the circumstances? Reacting immediately, based on emotions or a first view of the facts presented by people with their own self-interested agendas, often creates the illusion of and forces us down a single narrow path when in fact there are many to be considered.
Who is the quick action really favoring? Is it in your best interests or that of the enemy? The army that tries to push you into a quick offensive may be short of supplies and need to fight quickly before their provisions run out. Is not the best strategy in such a circumstance to patiently wait until their resources are depleted and they have to withdraw without your having lost the life of a single person or spent one aureus coin of state resources?
And remember in the very country that initiates a war there are often many in favor of it and many against it. By attacking quickly you may cause opposing views to disappear and then face a far more unified enemy enjoying an increased commitment of resources. By waiting, voices that oppose the war may grow in strength, political circumstances may change and the support for the campaign may collapse on top of itself.
Even in a situation where there is no choice but to fight it is best to avoid the pressure to act unless you can see a clear benefit for it; otherwise your rush into action will often put you in a worse position than you were when you started out. Poorly thought out actions can also limit the range of possible subsquent actions, forcing us to choose from an increasingly narrow and worse set of options.
Action has its place Decimus but reactive action is very often not in your service but the service of someone else. Your ability to wait is an incredibly valuable asset that can bring many benefits and eliminate many problems; one should not give this asset away unless what is received in return justifies it.