Sometimes the greatest threat lies within our walls

Assassins. Few things on the planet hold our attention as captive as they do. Hollywood has given us many notions about assassins; some accurate others completely exaggerated in order to glamorize them. Assassins perpetuate the type of violence we all fear: random, senseless and unprovoked. None of those terms accurately describe an assassin but that is a digression. Yes, we are scared of assassins and much of our attention is directed towards them, but the real question is 'why is that?'. Why is that when a far more common, pervasive and insidious form of violence affects millions of more people? Why do assassins like the Columbine and Virginia Tech murderers fascinate us so much when we are much more likely to be victimized right at home?

According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 12 million women and men are victims of domestic violence each year in the United States. Sometimes the greatest threat lies within our walls. In honor of October being National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I am dedicating this blog to the victims of said violence. 

Why then do assassins steal all our attention from domestic violence? After all, you are far more likely to be victimized by someone you know than by a truly unknown assassin. The truth is that we choose to focus more on the assassin because we intuitively know that we are unlikely to ever be victimized by the Unabomber, or Marilyn Manson, or Lee Harvey Oswald. We deliberately focus on them to distract us from the horrors of our own home. We don't focus on domestic violence precisely because it "hits close to home." To deal with it is to acknowledge its presence and that is too terrifying. 

If we are to truly be warriors we must face our enemy on ALL fronts. We must protect ourselves from enemies both foreign and domestic. It starts first with our mindset. A mindset of choosing to love ourselves enough to not remain with those who abuse us. Warriors are humble and true humility fosters the environment for healthy self-love. This self-love will allow us to walk away from bad situations because we value our life enough to protect it. Be humble. Be a warrior. 

I have the pleasure of knowing Tanya Brown, the younger sister of Nicole Brown Simpson (O.J. Simpson's murdered wife). She is committed to raising awareness for domestic violence so that other people do not have to suffer the same fate as her sister did. Anybody who wants more information and resources should check out her website: http://www.tanyabrown.net/

Why do I plug Tanya here? Because she has first hand experience that I do not. She can speak from experience and share powerful true stories that can greatly impact you. I was moved by her story when i heard her speak and I greatly enjoyed having conversations with her after her talk. I support what she is doing because she is helping with an aspect of violence that is dirty, secretive and hard to talk about. It is a messy job and I admire her for being willing to sink her hands into the filth. She is a warrior. 

Until next time fellow warriors, Front Toward Enemy!

Warrior Speaker