I see posts often about some craziness that happened at your local shopping center or how human traffickers are marking peoples car's with zip-ties or markers and people instantly go into panic and fear mode. And while I am not saying this stuff hasn't / doesn't happen, I am saying that it isn't this rampant issue happening all over the country and I am saying to be aware of your surroundings and use common sense (and just trust your "gut"). While these posts may seem "informative", they are usually more fear driven and create more fear than actual awareness. Because while you're now out grocery shopping looking for these specific things you just read about to make sure you don't fall victim, you may be missing the subtle things. While fear can be a great motivator to help us start learning about awareness, it can also create tunnel vision which can cause us to miss the other things going on around us. So while I don't want us to be ignorant of what may be happening in our areas, I do want us to remember that we don't want our life to be dictated by fear. We want to learn the tools to use and live by that help us minimize fear in our life and maximize our confidence in ourselves. This is why this group was created. This is why these courses were created. So go enjoy life with the tools you're learning to keep yourself safe and start becoming your own protector,

Don't let your idea of being "nice" override your responsibility for your safety.

The quote in the photo always makes me think of the line from Patrick Swayze in Road House (I'm sure this line alone will date me) where he's training the bouncer's and tells them "I want you to be nice until it's time to not be nice." The truth is, "being nice" isn't a bad thing, but sometimes "staying nice" can be. Remember, "being rude is relative", and just the same for being nice. Don't let your assumption that we should always be nice to everyone, all the time, lead you into an unsafe situation. Your safety is way more important than someone's possible briefly hurt feelings. If you're uncomfortable, either remove yourself from the situation and/or let the person(s) know. And remember, if all else fails, don't be fragile like a flower. Be fragile like a bomb. 💣