The best defences take time to build.
We don’t get many choices in life, but we do get to choose how we respond when things we don’t like happen.
Some will argue that our reactions are not real choices — and they’d be right most of the time.
But we can train ourselves to act in a certain way to events until it becomes automatic. It becomes our spontaneous reaction.
Just as the fighter trains his counter-moves thousands of times until they become instinctive, so too we can train our reactions.
It’s not easy — I need to learn this lesson more than most — but it is possible. It just takes practice.
When angered or shocked, we can always say thanks.
When confused or disappointed, we can always say thanks.
When saddened or scared, we can always say thanks.
The best defence is always gracefully moving out of the way because it leaves our assailant few places to land except flat on their face.