Approach people in good fate

I think it’s important to approach people in good faith while being respectful and truthful.

This means being friendly, kind, and gentle, while exploring peaceful options that promote cooperation should conflicts spring up.

Kindness is not a weakness

Yet, this kind of approach should not be confused with weakness or naivety.

It takes true strength and confidence to behave properly, and respectfully, and to constrain yourself in a harsh world that often entices you to use force to get what you want.

It’s easier to become bitter and cynical through all our bad life experiences than it is to remain optimistic. But staying kind will enrich your own life, and that of others as well.

Always have a more forceful option available

You should always have a more forceful option available for when the situation requires a more drastic approach.

And when you have that capacity for violence, then people will instantly notice it, and respect you as a result. This means that you should explore and develop your ‘shadow side’ to integrate it into your being so that you can tap into it on command.

People respect competence and strength

The reason people respect power and being capable is that we are all hard-wired to respect competence. Knowing that your body will always subconsciously carry out what you think.

Thus, being confident and able will seep through your behavior and communication with others.

Some people don’t play by the rules

Why do you need to carry a big stick with you at all times? (No pun intended.) It’s because some people simply don’t respond to the rules that the government is trying to enforce.

Some don’t care about niceties, fairness, and respect. As such, they are willing to do anything to get what they want, no matter how amoral or harmful it is for others.

To protect yourself in life

Some steal, rape, murder, and every other thing that won’t see the light of day. And you can’t protect yourself against them if you don’t understand them. It might seem contradictory since these are despicable people. But how are you going to defend yourself when you can’t even understand their mindset and how they think?

The thing is this. We can’t understand what we don’t have a bit in ourselves. I’m not saying we are any of the above. But I think all of us possess both good and bad traits, and it just depends on what will manifest itself based upon what we decide to feed, as that will grow in strength.

Thus, it isn’t that far-fetched that people can come to walk a very dark path if they already possess the capacity to do so in their DNA. Factor in some bad experiences early on in life, several unfortunate events, and a potentially very bad upbringing with little to no love, and it will come as no surprise that some people go off the rails.

To combat this, we need a kill-or-be-killed mentality at times.

Everyone has some inherent bad traits that we need to control

Since all of us inherently have those bad traits, albeit most likely not manifested since we had a decent upbringing with lots of love, we can somewhat understand why people go off the rails and do bad things.

Just because you understand it doesn’t mean you have to like it or find what they do right. But it is required to figure out how to defend yourself from those predators.

It’s also an ethical question. If you could just brute force yourself through life, emotionally and/or physically harming those who are in your way, would you do it? Technically, it’s sometimes much harder to be kind, generous, and respectful in a world that can be extremely harsh, cynical, and hurtful.

But the easy path is not always the right one to take. And in this case, I believe that taking the hard route is superior since it will teach us many viable life skills such as practicing respect, kindness, empathy, restraint, and many more.

Moreover, if people would lash out at the slightest whim, then it isn’t hard to imagine how society would devolve. Fights would break out everywhere, and chaos would ensue. Thus, it wouldn’t be possible to maintain a peaceful and cooperative society. It’s in everyone’s interest to maintain a well-functioning society since this will benefit all of us.