Standing up for yourself
So lets draw a hypothetical.
Your in high school. Someone starts to make fun of you. In a way that to everyone my age, if targeted they would get very angry. And react in a way that the person being mean wants you to, in a way that shows the spectacle to the onlookers the other is trying to entertain.
To hold back and not lash out. Via whatever method or systemised randomness you personally work with. Could easily be seen as cowardice, to note stand up for yourself, to think before you act is to be soft.
I object!
If one where to engage in violence at this point they would find themselves with a lot of problems:
- You started a fight you are in trouble with the school
- Also you probably arent good at fighting, just a guess, so your also injured
- You very well may feel guilty for hitting someone
It is you tomorrow that will have to deal with all of these. To stand up now is to push yourself down tomorrow.
But if you didn't engage in violence. If you didn't "Stand up for yourself." Then you tomorrow is going to have a much better day not dealing with the repercussions of any less than savory actions.
A major problem I feel I have when I act reasonably and others do not is that I am perceived as a coward. But how much better is being looked at as a coward than as the guy who lashes out easily? Because people will target that in order to create more spectacles for a crowd of emotionally unintelligent people.