I had many, many street-fights as a kid; sometimes, three a day. It was all part of growing up in a tough New York City neighborhood in the 1960’s. When I grew older, I realized how that experience had shaped my view of the world: life was one big battle, and you had to be a warrior to fight it. Fortunately, as I matured, I refined this perspective. I grew to understand that the world is a little more complicated: for sure, there are external threats like bullies and gangs that must be overcome; at the same time, we each have demons within that need to be tamed.
The warrior needs to know when the enemy is real, and when the enemy is himself. That’s a life-long struggle, but one that I believe to be crucial — for us all. How many people do bad things because their inner demons drive them to do it? Lots. And how many parts of the globe have become hell-on-earth because the bad guys were not put in their place? Lots.
I suppose you could say that the “key to world peace” is every person finding “peace within themselves.” Would bullies and gangs disappear if each person on the planet mastered their inner demon? Obviously, the more people master themselves and don’t take out their troubles on others, the less fighting there will be; but only God knows when, ultimately, our “swords will be beaten into ploughshares.”
What I do know is that today, the bullies and gangs include globalist billionaires and government agencies. The paradigm of “Life is a Fist Fight” applies to defeating them, as much as it did when I was handling the neighborhood thugs of my childhood.
And the same Warrior Ethic applies. Here it is, as I see it:
Find ways to avoid a fight. Most fights are started by people with bruised egos, or some other mental defect. Who in their right mind would want to hurt someone else? Getting sucked in to a fight with them, just to prove yourself, simply feeds the disfunction. But if they give you no choice, defend yourself. “The inmates don’t get to run the asylum.”
When you are being attacked, there is no time to ask why. If you pause to think about what is going on, you will get hit — or worse. Be here now. Once you successfully neutralize the attack, you can reflect on what happened.
You will get hurt. Even the best defensive strategies can have holes. When that happens, use your pain and suffering to strengthen your resolve. You are right to defend yourself, and you have God-given powers to protect you and yours. Right makes might.
You will lose some battles. This is especially true if your opponent is bigger, stronger, or smarter. But take your pound of flesh – cause some real damage. That will make them think twice next time. And show up every time they do challenge you. They will eventually learn the futility of their ways. The only way you lose, is if you quit.
The fight stops when your opponent loses the will to fight. They could be too hurt, too tired, too humiliated, or too scared. End it quickly. Give yourself the skills and mindset required to assert dominance immediately, and let them see the error of their ways.