Is this the hill you want to die on?

That's a phrase sometimes used in the military that has migrated into business and politics. It represents the issues and causes for which you are willing to make a stand, fight for, and risk your position and reputation defending or conquering. It implies that you want to win at any cost or die trying, and its popular usage is increasing as human conflicts grow.

I find it troubling that we borrow violent, war-like terms for civilian pursuits that would be better served peacefully. Are you defined by what you hate or by what you love? Many would die for country, family, and friends. Some would die for religion and politics. Why not live for your beliefs instead of die?

This photo is of my wife and me holding Beatrice Fihn's Nobel Peace Prize Medal at the recent fundraiser for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in Santa Barbara (wagingpeace.org). Nuclear disarmament has fallen out of vogue lately since there are so many other worthy causes like global warming and politics. But one cannot have too many worthy causes if they're really good. I applaud the NAPF and I thank Beatrice for her work.

My epitaph will be brief (since it won't be written by me), but I aspire to be remembered by how I lived and what I loved. I will never win a Nobel Peace Prize, but there's something ennobling for the soul when we support peace. Try it. I highly recommend it.