Touchnoops---good for you. If you feel fine then operate. But please don't tell the rest of us that if we decline discretion we are, essentially, being lazy.
Captains at EK have been flying 90 plus hours a month for 4 years now. If I refuse discretion it is because I believe the operation is pushing the bounds of safety. I NEVER use discretion on a night flight. Not out of spite but because I know that myself, and most pilots/crew, are pushing the limits. Especially considering the fact that the duty limits are generous to begin with!
Ops can push back all they want - not that I have ever seen them push back at EK. In the end, it is the captain that is responsible and will be held accountable.
My favorite was the captain in CRM who got all high and mighty about how it was HIS discretion and that the rest of the crew would follow his lead with no discussion. One of these pilots will, one day, be involved in an incident and, when it is discovered that they did not ENSURE that each and every crew member was fit to go into discretion he will be held accountable. Quite rightly so. Depending on where it happens he may well end up in jail or facing a civil suit where he loses his life savings.
There is a difference between 'getting the job done' or 'working with the company' and making a decision about fatigue and discretion. The problem is that fatigue is insidious and, 99.9% of the time, we get away with flying without an incident. So we do it again.