Personal Safety: Believing In Yourself
Self-defense, boundary setting, and awareness skills
are strengthened by confidence
Personal safety skills are most powerful when you believe in
yourself. When you believe in yourself, you are far more likely to:
• Trust your sense of what's going on.
• Pay attention to the warnings your awareness and intuition can
give you.
• Stand up for your rights.
• Respect your own boundaries and react when someone crosses
them.
• Believe in your ability to verbally or physically defend
yourself.
• Receive more respect.
• Give yourself the caring, safety and security you deserve.
When you believe in yourself, most people looking to cause a
problem will leave you alone.
FOSTER EMPOWERING BELIEFS
Any belief you may have about yourself, other people or your
environment can either support and nourish you or diminish and harm
you. If you have a strong belief in your self-worth, you will act to
give yourself positive experiences - which will strengthen your
self-worth that is likely to lead to more positive experiences,
creating a positive cycle. If you truly believe you deserve to be
safe, you are far more likely to do whatever it takes to protect your
personal safety. If you believe you don't deserve to be safe, then you
may not do much at all.
The majority of our beliefs are conditioned from an early age. It
is important to realize that a belief is not "truth" in any
absolute sense - it's a belief. A belief is something that we have
learned, a partial view of the world, a model of how things work. And,
as such, it is changeable. You have probably had the experience of
some of your most cherished beliefs changing over the years. Something
you were absolutely sure about when you were 15 changed quite a lot by
the time you were 25, and maybe was completely the opposite by the
time you reached 30. You can direct the natural changing of beliefs so
that all your beliefs enhance and enrich your life.
Three important beliefs to nurture are:
· "My self-respect is worth standing
up for."
· "I deserve to be safe."
· "I have the ability to keep myself
safe."
When you fully believe in yourself and your worth, an attack on
your person becomes unacceptable to you. You are far more prepared to
be determined, strong and clear in response to the little, everyday
intrusions as well as to an attempted attack. You are less likely to
accept that emotional and physical hurt is just a fact of life that
you have to tolerate. You will be more able to stand up for yourself
in ways that can transform your life.
Personal safety grows from the power, energy, and passion you want
in every part of your life. Having powerful and positive beliefs
will help keep you safe. It will, of course, also help enhance your
life moment by moment.
©
Copyright 2004. All rights reserved.
A publication of KIDPOWER TEENPOWER FULLPOWER International
www.kidpower.org
831-426-4407
Permission to reproduce granted with copyright notice and contact
information
at beginning and end of each article used.
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