Do you know how to win a fight?
Dear friend,
The best way to win a fight
is to make sure no one dares attack you.
That’s what “Peace through strength” means.
You project so much strength
that the person thinking of messing with you
thinks twice.
But to project strength,
you need to know what it is.
There are two kinds of strength:
real and phony.
Much of what passes for real strength
is actually counterfeit.
What is phony strength?
Phony strength is that of the bully.
The bully seems powerful
but is in fact a weakling.
An example of a bully is Donald Trump,
especially since his defeat in 2020.
He attempts to cover his weakness
by making continuous provocative attacks on others,
while portraying himself as their innocent victim.
But his attacks boomerang on him
and he revels in his “victim” role.
Ultimately he will end in defeat.
Another example of a bully is the school shooter.
The school shooter is a pathetic weakling.
He plans and carries out his dramatic attack
in order to give himself the illusion of strength.
His phony show of force
ends only in defeat:
suicide, shot dead, or rotting in prison.
What is real strength?
Real strength is constructive.
Real strength is:
—the power to make constructive events happen
—the power to prevent or stop destructive events from happening
A person with the power to do both
is a force to be reckoned with.
The goal of my writing is to build you
into the highest level of such a person:
Strong, free, constructive
–and nobody’s victim.
As we develop real strength
–psychological, spiritual and political–
we become more able to build a whole and happy life.
We become more able to protect ourselves and those we love.
As we become genuinely strong
the bully will not tend to choose us for a victim.
The bully does not attack
the person who has the power to stop him.
Let us make sure we always have the power to stop a bully!
Thus we will win many a fight,
most by prevention.
Blessings,
Dr. Hall
Question:
Have you noticed we all have a bully part of our mind
that attacks us — if we allow it?
The biggest challenge we all face in reaching maturity is standing up to our personal bully. Until we can do that and learn that the only way to deal with a bully is by standing up to them, we are self-limiting and will fall short of our potential. My bully is the one who says "Ha, ha, I told you that you couldn't do it and you messed it up." Once I learned that it was OK to make mistakes as long as I learned from them I became better at everything I tried and was willing to try more so my horizon grew. I probably also became a better manager and person because knowing that I would and could make mistakes without the world ending enabled me to accept that other people could do the same.
The best defense became serene self-confidence and the sure knowledge that by working with whomever was on my team we could accomplish anything. Understanding that my family could be part of that team took longer but eventually that worked too. My daughter and I became a much stronger team when we stood up to the bully that is her mother.
The price of not standing up to a bully,,assuming that you will always try to be honest with yourself, is your loss of self esteem. Remember, one can “stand up” with their mouth as opposed to their fists.
The way to start to get on that right track is by asking yourself every day “ did I do all that I could/should with what I have, emotionally, spiritually, physically and financially”?