Man, like any living being, is subject to fear. This is a completely normal phenomenon, which reflects the instinct of self-preservation. Only in life there are circumstances that require a person to overcome this fear, that is, to suppress the primitive instinct in himself. Such a task is not at all easy, so it is not surprising that people show cowardice. It is this concept that we will consider today.
What does cowardice mean?
Cowardice is the behavior of a person in a certain situation when he refuses to make decisions or actively act because of fear or other phobias. Cowardice is undoubtedly driven by fear, and this concept must be distinguished from caution or prudence. Once V. Rumyantsev noted that cowardice is an escape from a possible danger without its preliminary adequate assessment.
In psychology, cowardice is considered a negative quality. weakness, which does not allow you to perform proper actions.
Understanding cowardice according to Theophrastus
The ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus said that cowardice is a mental weakness that does not allow a person to confront his fear. A cowardly person can easily mistake cliffs for pirate ships or prepare to die as soon as the waves start to rise. If a coward suddenly gets into a war, then at the sight of how his comrades are dying, he will certainly pretend that he has forgotten his weapon and return to the camp. There, the coward will hide the sword away and will pretend to be intensified searches. He will do anything to avoid fighting enemies. Even if one of his comrades is wounded, he will look after him, but when the soldiers begin to return from the battlefield, without a doubt, the coward will run out to meet them, all smeared with the blood of his comrade and will tell that he personally carried him out of hellish fight.
Here is such a vivid example of cowardice Theophrastus cites, trying to reveal the essence of this concept. But no matter now or thousands of years ago, human nature has remained unchanged - cowards behave the same way.
Cowardice and courage
The feeling of fear is known to all people. There has never been, is not and never will be a person who is not afraid of anything. Only some retreat in the face of danger, while others break themselves and go towards their fear. Such people are called courageous. But if a person does not do this, and after a while he is forced by others to a certain action, then without a doubt, he will receive the nickname of a coward. The inability and unwillingness to cope with their fears will forever put a corresponding stigma on a person.
It is not easy to overcome cowardice. To gain courage, to show courage - every person is potentially capable of such actions, but if cowardice is already firmly rooted in him, he becomes her helpless slave. Cowardice does everything not to show itself, it is an imperceptible shadow with great destructive power.
One can recall many examples of cowardice: a friend did not stand up for a comrade because he was afraid of a fight; a person does not change a hated job, being afraid of losing stability; or a soldier fleeing the battlefield. Cowardice has many guises behind the rules.
Hell Dante
In Dante's guide to the afterlife, the classic description of cowards is given. In the very threshold of the Underworld, faceless souls crowded, once they were people struck by cowardice. These are indifferent onlookers at the feast of life, they knew neither glory nor shame, and the world should not remember them.
If a person, getting into a dangerous situation, thinks exclusively about flight, while ignoring the voice of reason, he is struck by cowardice. Cowardice always chooses what is convenient and safe. Not solving the problem, but hiding from it - this is the basis on which the concept of cowardice is based.
Consequences
To hide from life's problems and decision-making, cowardice finds relaxation in recreational activities. Hiding behind a series of endless feasts, watching funny videos, cowardice constantly accumulates a number of unpleasant situations that require resolution. So what does cowardice lead to?
If it has already become a manifestation of personality, then it is safe to say that such a person is not capable of courage or selflessness. He becomes timid and timid, and his conscience is forever silenced. Only the insane do not experience fear. Avoiding danger is a reasonable act, but running away from a specific problem is cowardice.
A coward will think ten thousand times before making a decision. His motto is: "No matter what happens." Following this principle, a person turns into a real egoist who does everything possible to hide from the threats of the outside world. Cowardice is closed in its loneliness, and the frightened ego, to which its own safety is most important, is ready to go to any meanness. This is how betrayal is born. Paired with cowardice, anyone takes on an exaggerated look: a stupid one turns into an incorrigible dumbass, a deceitful one becomes a slanderer. This is what cowardice leads to.
terrible vice
Most cowardly people are cruel. They bully the weak, thereby trying to hide their “shy illness” from the public. The coward splashes out the accumulated anger and resentment on the victim. Cowardice deprives a person of the ability to reason rationally. Brutal murders that even experienced forensic experts break into a cold sweat are most often committed under the influence of fear. That is why cowardice is the most terrible vice.
Due to his excessive fearfulness, a person can live a lifetime without knowing what he was capable of. Everyone has the potential to be a brave person, but by refusing to make decisions or take necessary actions, a person gradually turns into a miserable coward. Fear is not a sin, it reveals human weaknesses that can be dealt with quite successfully, but cowardice is already a vice for which there is no excuse.
The main moral issues of the novel are connected with the image of Pontius Pilate, such as the problem of conscience and power, cowardice and mercy. The meeting with Yeshua forever changes the life of the procurator. In the interrogation scene, he is almost motionless, but the external static character sets off even more. As in the novel by M.A. Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" proved the statement: "cowardice is the worst vice"?
Roman M.A. Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita" impresses with its depth and inclusiveness. The satirical chapters, in which Woland's retinue fools the Moscow inhabitants, interfere in the novel with the lyrical chapters dedicated to the Master and Margarita. The fantastic in the novel peeps out from behind the everyday, evil spirits roam the streets of Moscow, the beautiful Margarita turns into a witch, and the Variety administrator becomes a vampire. The composition of The Master and Margarita is also unusual: the book consists of two novels: the novel itself about the tragic fate of the Master and four chapters from the Master's novel about Pontius Pilate.
The "Yershalaim" chapters are the content and philosophical center of the novel. The novel about Pilate refers the reader to the text of Holy Scripture, but at the same time Bulgakov creatively rethinks the Gospel. There are important differences between his hero Yeshua Ha-Nozri and the gospel Jesus: Yeshua has no followers, except for the former tax collector Levi Matthew, a man "with goat parchment" who writes down Ha-Nozri's speeches, but "records incorrectly." Yeshua, under interrogation by Pilate, denies that he entered the city on a donkey, and the crowd greeted him with shouts. The crowd, most likely, beat the wandering philosopher - he comes for interrogation with an already disfigured face. Moreover, Yeshua is not the main character of the Master's novel, although his preaching of love and truth is undoubtedly important for the philosophy of the novel. The main character of the "Yershalaim" chapters is the fifth procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate.
The main moral issues of the novel are connected with the image of Pontius Pilate, such as the problem of conscience and power, cowardice and mercy. The meeting with Yeshua forever changes the life of the procurator. In the interrogation scene, he is almost motionless, but the external static character sets it off even more strongly, the fear of public ridicule and the wrath of the Roman emperor is stronger than fear in battle. Too late, Pilate overcomes his fear. He dreams that he is walking next to the philosopher along the moonbeam, arguing, and they "do not agree with each other in anything," which makes their argument especially interesting. And when the philosopher tells Pilate that cowardice is one of the most terrible vices, the procurator objects to him: "this is the most terrible vice." In the dream, the procurator realizes that he now agrees to "ruin his career" for the sake of "an innocent mad dreamer and doctor."
Calling cowardice "the most terrible vice", the procurator decides his fate. Pontius Pilate's punishment is immortality and "unheard of glory". And 2000 years later, people will still remember and repeat his name as the name of the person who condemned the "wandering philosopher" to death. And the procurator himself has been sitting on a stone platform and sleeping for about two thousand years, and only on the full moon he is tormented by insomnia. His dog Banga shares the punishment of "eternity" with him. As Woland will explain this to Margarita: "... whoever loves must share the fate of the one he loves."
According to the Master's novel, Pilate tries to atone for Yeshua by ordering Judas to be killed. But murder, even under the guise of just revenge, contradicts Yeshua's entire life philosophy. Perhaps Pilate's thousand-year punishment is connected not only with his betrayal of Ha-Nozri, but also with the fact that he "did not listen to the end" of the philosopher, did not fully understand him.
At the end of the novel, the Master lets his hero run along the moonbeam to Yeshua, who, according to Woland, has read the novel.
How does the motif of cowardice transform in the "Moscow" chapters of the novel? It is hardly possible to accuse the Master of cowardice, who burned his novel, renounced everything and voluntarily went to the asylum for the mentally ill. This is a tragedy of fatigue, unwillingness to live and create. “I have nowhere to run away,” the Master replies to Ivan, who suggested that it is easy to escape from the hospital, having, like the Master, a bunch of all the hospital keys. Perhaps, Moscow writers can be accused of cowardice, because the literary situation in Moscow in the 30s of the 20th century was such that a writer could create only things pleasing to the state, or not write at all. But this motive slips in the novel only as a hint, a guess of the Master. He admits to Ivan that from the critical articles addressed to him, it was clear that "the authors of these articles do not say what they want to say, and that this is precisely what causes their rage."
Thus, the motif of cowardice is embodied mainly in the novel about Pontius Pilate. The fact that the Master's novel evokes associations with the biblical text gives the novel a universal significance, saturates it with cultural and historical associations. The problematic of the novel expands endlessly, absorbing all human experience, forcing each reader to think about why cowardice is "the worst vice"
In the novel by M.A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita are two plots. The Moscow chapters depict the contemporary reality of the writer in the thirties of the twentieth century. The novel was created in the era of a totalitarian state, during the period of Stalinist repressions. In this terrible time, people disappeared from their apartments without a trace and never returned there. Fear fettered people, and they were afraid to have their own opinion, to openly express their thoughts. The society was seized by a mass psychosis of spy mania. Atheism became part of state policy, and denunciation was elevated to the rank of virtue. Evil and violence, meanness and betrayal triumphed. The humanist writer believed in the power of good and was sure that evil must be punished.
Therefore, in the Moscow of the thirties, by the power of his imagination, he places the devil, who in the novel bears the name of Woland. Bulgakov's Satan differs from the traditional image of the devil that exists in religious consciousness. He does not at all incline people to sins, does not tempt people with temptations. He exposes already existing vices and punishes sinners, bringing just retribution and thus serving the cause of good.
The second plot is presented as a master's novel about Pontius Pilate. To affirm the eternal spiritual values, the writer turns to the gospel images.
Christian motifs are associated with the images of Yeshua, Pontius Pilate, Levi Matthew and Judas.
Pontius Pilate appears on the pages of the novel in all the grandeur of a man with great power - "in a white cloak with a bloody lining, shuffling cavalry gait" he enters the covered colonnade between the two wings of the palace of Herod the Great.
The Roman governor is the fifth procurator of Judea. He has the right to sign death warrants. And at the same time, M. Bulgakov endows his hero with physical weakness - a painful headache - "hemicrania", in which half the head hurts. He suffers terribly from an "invincible" disease for which there is no cure, no escape. In such a painful state, Pontius Pilate begins the interrogation of the "under investigation from Galilee." The procurator must approve the death sentence of the Sanhedrin.
The image of Pontius Pilate in the novel is the most complex and controversial. The name of this hero is connected with the problem of conscience, posed very sharply. On the example of the image of the all-powerful procurator, the idea that "cowardice is the most terrible vice" is affirmed.
Pontius Pilate is a brave and courageous man, he bravely fought in the battle "under Idistaviso, in the Valley of the Virgins." “The infantry maniple got into the bag, and if the cavalry turma hadn’t cut in from the flank, and I commanded it, you, philosopher, wouldn’t have had to talk with the Ratslayer,” he says to Yeshua. In battle, the procurator is not afraid of death and is ready to come to the rescue of a comrade. This man is endowed with great power, he approves death sentences, the life of the convicts is in his hands. But, nevertheless, Pontius Pilate admits weakness and shows cowardice, condemning to death a man whose innocence he did not doubt for a minute.
To understand why the hegemon made such a decision, one should turn to the interrogation scene in Herod's palace. Great.
The interrogation episode can be divided into two parts. In the first part, Pontius Pilate decides to abolish the death penalty, since he sees nothing criminal in the actions of the wandering philosopher. Yeshua did not incite the people to destroy the Yershalaim temple. He spoke in a figurative sense, and the tax collector misunderstood and distorted the thought of the philosopher. In the second part of the interrogation, Pontius Pilate faces the moral problem of conscience, the problem of moral choice. On a piece of parchment, the procurator reads a denunciation of Yeshua. Judas of Kiriath asked a provocative question about state power. The wandering philosopher replied that all power is violence, that in the future there will be no power, but the kingdom of truth and justice will come.
The procurator is faced with a choice: not to sign the death warrant means violating the lèse-majesté law; to recognize Yeshua as guilty means to save oneself from punishment, but to condemn an innocent person to death.
For Pontius Pilate, this is a painful choice: the voice of conscience tells him that the arrested person is not guilty. When the procurator read the denunciation, it seemed to him that the head of the prisoner had floated away somewhere, and instead of it, the bald head of Herod with a rare-toothed golden crown appeared. This vision symbolizes the choice that Pontius Pilate will make. He is trying to somehow save Yeshua, sending "signals" to give up his words about the great Caesar, but the wandering philosopher is used to telling only the truth. The Roman procurator is internally not free, afraid of punishment and therefore insincere. "In the world there has never been and never will be a greater and more beautiful power than the power of the emperor Tiberius," says Pilate, and looks with hatred at the secretary and the escort. He utters words that he does not believe in, fearing the denunciation of witnesses to his interrogation. Pontius Pilate made his choice, approving the death sentence, because he was not ready to take the place of a wandering philosopher, he showed cowardice and cowardice.
The main thing can no longer be changed, and the procurator seeks to change at least minor circumstances in order to drown out the pangs of conscience. Showing sympathy for the condemned, he gives the order to kill Yeshua on the cross so that he would not suffer for a long time. He orders to kill the scammer Judas and return the money to the high priest. The procurator is trying somehow to make amends for his guilt, to appease his remorse.
An important role in the novel is played by a dream that the Roman procurator saw after the execution of Yeshua. In the dream, he walks accompanied by his dog Bungy, the only creature to whom he feels affection. And next to him, a wandering philosopher is walking along a transparent blue road, and they are arguing about something complex and important, and neither of them can defeat the other. In the dream, the procurator convinces himself that there was no execution. He recalls the words uttered by Yeshua before the execution, which are transmitted by the head of the service, Athanius: "... among human vices, he considers cowardice to be one of the most important." In a dream, the procurator objects to the wandering philosopher: "... this is the most terrible vice!" He recalls his courage in battle: "... the current procurator of Judea was not a coward, but a former tribune in the legion, then, in the Valley of the Virgins, when the furious Germans almost killed the Ratslayer - the Giant." In a dream, the procurator makes the right choice. In the morning, he would not have ruined his career because of a man who committed a crime against Caesar. But at night he weighed everything and came to the conclusion that he agreed to destroy himself in order to save from execution "a resolutely innocent crazy dreamer and doctor." Here it is shown that the procurator repents of his cowardice. He realizes he made a terrible mistake. But he is capable of feat and self-sacrifice. If it were possible to change everything or turn back time, Pontius Pilate would not have signed the death warrant. "We will always be together now," says Ga-Notsri. We are talking about the very immortality that the procurator for some reason thought about when he read the denunciation of Judas. Yeshua's immortality lies in the fact that he remained faithful to the preaching of goodness and ascended the cross for the sake of people. This is a feat of self-sacrifice. Pilate's immortality lies in the fact that he showed cowardice and, out of cowardice, signed the death warrant for an innocent person. No one would want such immortality. At the end of the novel, the procurator claims that "more than anything in the world he hates his immortality and unheard-of glory." He says that he would gladly exchange his fate with the ragged vagabond Levi Matthew.
No matter how long humanity exists, it will always be concerned about moral problems: honor, duty, conscience. These questions are raised by M.A. Bulgakov in his best philosophical novel "The Master and Margarita", forcing the reader to rethink life and appreciate the importance of the moral aspects of a person, and also to think about what is more important in life - power, might, money or one's own spiritual freedom, leading to goodness and justice and a calm conscience. If a person is not free, he is afraid of everything, he has to act contrary to his desires and conscience, that is, the most terrible vice manifests itself in him - cowardice. And cowardice leads to immoral acts, for which the most terrible punishment awaits a person - pangs of conscience. Such pangs of conscience haunted the protagonist of the Master's novel, Pontius Pilate, for almost 2,000 years.
M.A. Bulgakov takes the reader to ancient Yershalaim, to the palace of the fifth procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate, to whom they brought a man under investigation from Galilee, who was arrested for inciting the destruction of the Yershalaim temple. His face was smashed and his hands were tied. Despite the headache that tormented the procurator, as a person convicted by the authorities, he was forced to interrogate the criminal. Pontius Pilate, a powerful, formidable and domineering man who does not tolerate objections and is accustomed to the uncomplaining obedience of his subordinates and slaves, was outraged by the appeal of the arrested person to him: “Good man, believe me!” Calling Mark Krysoboy (the head of the special county), he ordered the defendant to be taught a lesson. No wonder the procurator himself called himself a "ferocious monster." After the punishment, Pontius Pilate continued the interrogation and found out that the arrested person named Yeshua Ha-Nozri was a literate person who knew Greek, and spoke to him in Greek. Pontius Pilate becomes interested in a wandering philosopher, he understands that he is not faced with a hypocrite, but with an intelligent and wise man who also has the wonderful ability to relieve a headache. Also, the procurator is convinced that the spiritual position of Ga-Notsri: “there are no evil people in the world” is sincere and conscious that Yeshua lives according to his own laws, the laws of goodness and justice. Therefore, he believes that all people are free and equal. He behaves with the procurator as an independent person: “Some new thoughts came to my mind that could, I believe, seem interesting to you, and I would gladly share them with you, especially since you give the impression of a very intelligent person” . The procurator is surprised at how simply and directly Yeshua objects to him, sir, and is not indignant. And the arrested man continued: “The trouble is ... that you are too closed off and have completely lost faith in people. After all, you must admit, you can’t put all your affection in a dog. Your life is meager, hegemon…” Pilate felt that the condemned man was absolutely right about something important, and his spiritual conviction was so strong that even the tax collector, Matthew Levi, despising money, followed his Teacher everywhere. The procurator had a desire to save an innocent doctor and philosopher: he would declare Ha-Notsri mentally ill and send him to an island in the Mediterranean Sea, where his residence is located. But this was not destined to come true, because in the case of Yeshua there is a denunciation of Judas from Kiriath, which reports that the philosopher told a “kind and inquisitive person” that “that any power is violence against people and that the time will come when there will be no the authority of neither the Caesars nor any other authority. A person will pass into the realm of truth and justice, where no power will be needed at all. Thus, having offended the power of Caesar, Yeshua signed his own death warrant. Even for the sake of saving his life, he does not renounce his beliefs, does not try to lie or hide something, since it is “easy and pleasant” for him to tell the truth. Yeshua was taken to execution, and from that moment on Pontius Pilate lost his peace, because he sent an innocent person to execution. It vaguely seemed to him, "that he did not say something with the convict, or maybe he did not listen to something." He felt that there would be no forgiveness for his act, and hated everyone who contributed to the condemnation of the philosopher, and first of all himself, as he quite consciously made a deal with his conscience, frightened by an inner desire to restore justice. He, a smart politician and a skilled diplomat, realized long ago that while living in a totalitarian state, one cannot remain oneself, that the need for hypocrisy deprived him of faith in people and made his life meager and meaningless, which Yeshua noticed. The unshakable moral position of Ha-Notsri helped Pilate realize his weakness and insignificance. In order to alleviate his suffering and at least somehow clear his conscience, Pilate orders to kill Judas, who betrayed Yeshua. But the pangs of conscience do not let him go, so in a dream in which the procurator saw that he had not sent a wandering philosopher to be executed, he wept and laughed with joy. And in reality he executed himself for being afraid to take the side of Yeshua and save him, because to have mercy on Ha-Nozri meant to endanger himself. If there hadn't been an interrogation protocol, he might have let the wandering philosopher go. But career and fear of Caesar turned out to be stronger than the inner voice.
If Pilate had been in harmony with himself and his concept of morality, his conscience would not have tormented him. But he, having sanctioned the execution of Yeshua, acted contrary to “his will and his desires, out of cowardice alone…”, which turns into a two-thousand-year-old torment of repentance for the procurator. According to Bulgakov, people with double morality, like Pontius Pilate, are very dangerous, because because of their cowardice and cowardice they commit meanness, evil. Thus, the novel undeniably proves the assertion of Yeshua, the bearer of goodness and justice, that “cowardice is the worst vice.”
THEORY OF DEBT
Cowardice is habitually condemned by society
Many people have heard the phrase of M. Bulgakov that cowardice is the worst vice. Well, that's right. However, it is very bad when, under the pressure of such maxims, a conscientious person puts an end to himself after a cowardly act.
Still, cats are already scratching at his soul, and in addition, society invisibly repeats to him: “You have reached the most terrible vice!”
But pay attention - after all, Bulgakov hardly condemned anyone. Rather, he was simply stating a fact that was obvious to him. And I will allow myself to add the famous phrase:
Cowardice is the worst of vices if you don't fight it.
It is not cowardice itself that is immoral, but the unwillingness to resist it.
I repeat - for thousands of years, leaders of all stripes cultivated cowardice in people by the most cruel means. She has eaten into our soul, she has literally become a part of it! That is why, when we are threatened, we instinctively strive to comply.
Under these conditions, one cannot blame a person who succumbed to cowardice. It would be more correct to honor the one who was able to overcome it!
There is a vivid episode in the Gospel when the apostle Peter denied Christ. Just before that, he ardently convinced the teacher that he would never leave him. To which he will receive the answer: "... I truly say to you that on this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And so it happened - under the threat of being captured, Peter denied Christ three times - and immediately the cock crowed. And Peter, gone, weeping bitterly...
So what - do we now consider Peter a scoundrel and a traitor? No. Having overcome his fear, he then became the successor of the work of his teacher - and at the end of his life he also suffered a martyr's death.
And now I will give an excerpt from the book by E. M. Remarque “All Quiet on the Western Front”, which describes the shelling:
“Next to us lies a terrified recruit to death ...
He covered his face with his hands. His helmet rolled to the side.
I pull it up and I'm going to put it on his head.
He looks up, pushes his helmet away, and, like a child,
puts his head under my arm, clinging tightly to mine
chest. His narrow shoulders tremble...
Gradually he comes to his senses. Suddenly he blushes like a poppy color,
Confusion is written on his face. He gently touches his hand to
pants and looks at me plaintively. I immediately figure out what's going on:
he has canine disease. I try to console him:
- Nothing to be ashamed of; still not the same as you happened
put in their pants when they first came under fire. Go behind the bush
take off your pants and be done with it...
There is not a drop of censure and condemnation in this episode. Not only gods, but also people are wise, understanding the nature of cowardice and not making a sentence out of it. Cowardice is not bad in itself, but only when you refuse to fight it. In this case, you can safely put an equal sign between cowardice and laziness of the soul ...
Well - but what to do after all, if a shameful cowardly act is committed?
As paradoxical as it may seem, the first thing to do is to perk up a little. Thousands and thousands of people are absolutely not ashamed of their cowardice - their weak consciousness is arranged in such a way that it instantly expels all unpleasant memories from memory.
You are not like that. You have a vigilant watchman in your soul that does not let you relax. And this, on the one hand, is good. But on the other hand, you can soon just overstrain from the endless reproaches of conscience. Especially if you still lack strength to follow her voice…
I suggest you adopt debt theory . If at some point in your life you did not have the courage to act according to your conscience, write this action into your liability. Be sure - fate, seeing the intention to get even with the debts of the past, will certainly provide an opportunity to do this.
One of the brightest episodes in my life - when I did not stand up for a woman who was robbed on a bus. When we, tightly squeezed in the cabin, drove up to a stop, she became agitated and shouted: “Driver, do not open the door! My wallet was stolen! I know who stole it - this one! And she pointed to the bull next to me, grinning and looking away. And I stood at the very door and could well say: “I am ready to show my pockets. You do the same, or give me the wallet." Moreover, I was so tightly pressed against the door that, if desired, I could make sure that it did not open.
But… The bus pulled up to the stop, the driver, turning his face to the side, opened the door, the bull immediately jumped out into the street - and that was it…
I was utterly ashamed to recall this episode, until I said to myself: “Just tormenting the soul will not help the cause. They only wear me down. So I'm recording this episode on my own. As soon as I again witness a similar situation, I will be ready to intervene in it ... "
Almost every one of us has committed cowardly, shameful acts in life. Worrying about this is commendable - but only if the experiences lead to a specific positive result.
Cowardice comes only from a lack of…desire
R. Descartes
THEORY OF SMALL MATTERS
Fear has big eyes
What does this proverb mean? Yes, a very simple idea - we tend to exaggerate the scale of the unknown. As Shakespeare once said: "The real horrors are not so terrible as the horrors of the imagination."
The main tool for defeating cowardice is practice. If you are afraid of the dark, go into the dark. If you are afraid of gopniks - make comments to them for mats in a public place.
But, of course, do it wisely. If you go into the dark, then into one where there are no swamps and sharp branches. After all, your task is to return alive, healthy and with the experience of defeating cowardice.
If you make a remark to a gopnik, then in a place where others can help you if something happens. Yes, and the gopnik for the first time should be chosen more rotten - in case of a possible fight.
Starting with small steps, you will gradually find the ground under your feet more and more confidently. And soon you will realize that you can make comments even to a drunken company in a train compartment - and instead of a fight, meet embarrassed looks ...
In general, it has long been said - you cannot defeat fear without going through the path that scares you. Moreover, the more often you get into extreme situations, the faster your body adapts to it. It's all about practice!
Human he fears only what he does not know; knowledge conquers all fear.
V. G. Belinsky
HOW SCARY THE FUCK?
Often we do not dare to act only because we have been instilled with the thought of the terrible consequences of the act ...
Man is a lazy creature. Having found a more or less comfortable corner in life, we prefer not to stick out, so as not to lose even the illusion of well-being. Habit is a terrible thing.
Wife tolerates a drunken husband, because he thinks that it will be harder to be alone.
Employee tolerates a boorish boss, because he is not sure that
find an equally well-paid job
People tolerates power because it assumes that if
disobedience, she will apply the most severe measures to him
So - pay attention: “thinks”, “not sure”, “assumes” ... In general, we live according to the principle of the immortal phrase: “No matter what happens!”. It is difficult for us to even decide on an experiment - what will happen if I still ...
So, let's do it all the same - while in safe, laboratory conditions. Take a pen, a piece of paper and write the name of the situation at the top. And now below in two columns, write the pros and cons as a result of its change.
Work calmly, without rushing. Weigh all options carefully. And it may well turn out that the prospect of being fired from work is no longer so terrible. Or that failing in public speaking isn't a catastrophe at all. Etc.
A separate issue - fights. To be honest, many of us give in to them. Therefore, take and, for a start, carefully watch the video recordings of fights, which, unfortunately, the Internet offers in a huge volume today. Then summarize: what is typical for fights? How do they go? What result awaits me if I get into a fight?
After that, you should carefully study expert advice about how to behave in a fight. After that, it’s not bad to take a self-defense course without weapons - fortunately, there are a lot of them now. And now you will find how your confidence has now increased - to the point that you have mastered the icy ability to put out a fight before it starts.
Our fears are half unfounded, half simply shameful.
C. Bowie
BE AFRAID - DO NOT, DO - DO NOT BE AFRAID
In conclusion, I would like to say this again
Only those who feel the strength in themselves should dare a bold act. This does not mean that you can enter into a fight with hooligans only by learning kickboxing. But in this case, it is not physical preparation that is important, but strength of mind.
History has repeatedly shown examples of how bullies and tall men retreated from a weaker enemy just because he was not going to give up. Desperate, purposeful resistance sometimes works wonders. But only internally mature people are capable of such resistance.
So don't rush your time. If you have taken a course on courage - it's already good. Relentlessly and consistently go to the intended goal. Be prepared for failure. Think of them as training and hardening. Rise from your knees - and go forward again.
And at one of the moments a calm inner feeling will come that you are already don't be afraid.
Don't be afraid of gopniks.
Don't be afraid to argue with your boss.
Do not be afraid to openly express your position on the forum.
Don't be afraid to live.
