Dash of Sass: Why We Must Not Allow Bad Guys to Take Our Goodness

Quote of the Day:

“You’re going to meet many people with domineering personalities: the loud, the obnoxious, those that noisily stake their claims in your territory and everywhere else they set foot on. This is the blueprint of a predator. Predators prey on gentleness, peace, calmness, sweetness and any positivity that they sniff out as weakness. Anything that is happy and at peace they mistake for weakness. It’s not your job to change these people, but it’s your job to show them that your peace and gentleness do not equate to weakness. I have always appeared to be fragile and delicate but the thing is, I am not fragile and I am not delicate. I compare myself to silk. People mistake silk to be weak but a silk handkerchief can protect the wearer from a gunshot. There are many people who will want to befriend you if you fit the description of what they think is weak; predators want to have friends that they can dominate over because that makes them feel strong and important. The truth is that predators have no strength and no courage. It is you who are strong, and it is you who has courage. I have lost many a friend over the fact that when they attempt to rip me, they can’t. They accuse me of being deceiving; I am not deceiving, I am just made of silk. It is they who are stupid and wrongly take gentleness and fairness for weakness. There are many more predators in this world, so I want you to be made of silk. You are silk.” ~C. JoyBell C.

The Single Woman Says:

The quote above ministers to my soul…particularly in light of the week we’ve all had as human beings sharing a planet. I think the natural reaction when hurt by someone or something (and Lord knows we’ve all been collectively hurt this week, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or even spiritually) is to close yourself off; to grow numb, hard, even embittered; to circle yourself and your heart with barbwire so no one can ever penetrate your tough exterior again; to batten down the hatches and take whatever measures necessary to shield yourself from the fallout of tragedy and heartbreak and pain. And that’s a natural, human instinct…to throw up our defenses and throw down our sensitivity and our softness and our vulnerability when faced with the threat of harm to our hearts or our lives or our beings. But here’s the thing. When we do that…when we allow predators and villains and bad guys to cause us to trade our beautiful human fragility for robotic, superhuman, impenetrable armor…we allow the predators and villains and bad guys to win. The overwhelming sense that one has to become an unfeeling, uncaring statue to prove one’s strength is wrong. REAL strength is holding on to one’s kindness and vulnerability and peacefulness and gentleness in the face of the very people and forces and circumstances that would seek to rob you of it. You see, the world NEEDS your calmness. It NEEDS your compassion. It NEEDS your positivity. Any coward can throw a bomb or shoot a gun or wield their “power” over innocent people using weapons and violence and hatred…but it takes a REAL hero to change the world using the power of love. THAT’S real strength. The coward who bombed the Boston Marathon likely ran AWAY from the scene in terror after depositing his tools of destruction…but the HEROS ran TOWARD the scene to help those in need. Fear rushed OUT and love rushed IN. What a powerful lesson. Today I would urge you to follow the lead of those first responders, those good Samaritans, those ordinary people who on a heartbreaking Saturday afternoon in Boston, became extraordinary examples of courage, and bravery, and strength. They came face to face with evil and still refused to surrender their humanity, and their softness, and their vulnerability. Let us seek to run our own races with the same greatness in which they ran theirs, reaching down to help broken and hurting and despairing people along the way to cross their own finish line.

One Response to “ Dash of Sass: Why We Must Not Allow Bad Guys to Take Our Goodness ”

  1. L
    May 13, 2014

    Wow, this was deep. I just come to realize that the bully is a coward. he is not strong at all, he only wants to give the appearance of strength. Really needed this. Thanks Mandy!

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Something wonderful is on the horizon
Turn Toward the Sun CoverLife doesn’t always look the way we want it to look. In Mandy’s upcoming book, Turn Toward the Sun: Releasing What If and Embracing What Is, you’ll find encouragement to live in the moment, sit with your experiences, and trust God with the unknown.
Preorder from Baker Book House for 40% off and free shipping!*
*US shipping only