Reposted from
@samual_charles “If someone succeeds in provoking you, realize that your mind is complicit in the provocation.”
- Epictetus
This can be a tough one to step up to...It’s easy to justify reacting, either verbally or physically, in many challenging scenarios...but none the less, it’s steeped in a fundamental truth...
When my ego is challenged, it can be very easy to make the choice to give my power away by reacting unconsciously to those who seek to disrupt and destabilize...
I may feel powerless in those moments. Small...diminished.
It may feel like my very existence is challenged, but at the end of the day, I, myself, am responsible for knowing and believing in my own worth.
I get to take ownership of my actions, my choices, and fortify in self-love.... not in the victim narrative that I may be tempted to enroll in, even with the barrage of external provocation from those who project their own feelings of powerlessness on to myself and others.
You show me a man who’s drowning in anger...and I’ll show you a man who has given his power away and has chosen not to reclaim it.
I’ve know this man. I’ve been this man.
The victim mentality has and will affect us all.
We get to recognize it within ourselves.
We get to take responsibility for what we create in our lives and we get proactively shift our narrative.
...and if someone makes the choice to physically harm you, you best be ready to throw hands and protect yourself and your loved one.
That’s our responsibility as well.
Life, the Paradox.
We get to love that paradoxical part of our existence as well.
Love Y’all.
