What
Is The Triad Of Terrorism?
Terrorism has
two sides--the physical and emotional.
Commonly, we
think of Terrorism as some mad person or group setting a bomb
to blow up innocent people, or flying airplanes into the World
Trade Center, or holding a sword over the heads of bound prisoners
and threatening to decapitate them.
But Terrorism
has a much more nefarious nature.
It's true purpose
isn't to "kill" or "maim," but to paralyze
and render impotent a person, group or society into a state
of Fear, Intimidation and Complacency.
 |
The Triad
Of Terrorism |
In a nutshell,
Terrorism is a bully. It's like the mean kid who threatens all
the other kids on the block to kowtow to him or he'll "beat
them up."
Inside each human
being exists two forces--the Fear of being hurt and the resolve
to stand up for what is right.
These two forces
often come into conflict, especially when one doesn't have the
size or power to match the threat.
Emotionally,
we all suffer varying degrees of "Terror Thoughts."
Some have deep roots going back to the moments when we were
children and we were sure there was a "monster" under
the bed, or, that it was lurking in the closet and waiting to
"snatch" us.
Some "Terror
Thoughts" are more perverse than simple childish Fear-Of-The-Dark.
These may have formed when we heard our parents fighting, or,
when we witnessed the abuse of someone we loved, or, worse,
if we were abused by someone who had power over us.
Such abuse runs
a long gauntlet, from sexual to physical to vicious tongue-lashings
where we might have been told we "weren't good enough,"
or that our parents "wished we weren't born," or,
that it's sad "we're not as smart as."
Inside, the soft
innocence of our childish souls were rammed with the brass knuckles
of such comments, bruising our self-images and perhaps driving
us into a deep shell where we retreated to avoid being "attacked."
We might have
wanted to have our parents hug us and ask us all about our day
and dreams only to have them brush us aside and tell us: "Don't
bother me, I'm too busy. Go watch television."
The human soul
of the self is fragile, not unlike a rose petal where too much
pressure mars it, wilts its beauty.
As our emotions
evolve into adulthood, the pain and anguish of our childhood
Terrorisms do not leave us. They sink down deep into our chemistry
and when a teacher or a boss barks at us, we flinch or cower
or feel we are "less than," or "not as good as,"
or not as "worthy as" others.
If we allow the
Bully Terrorist inside us to roam freely, we end up becoming
either a doormat and consider ourselves a nail and the world
a hammer, or, we become a bellicose, angry, sarcastic reflection
of a person not unlike our abuser. In other words, some of us
may become the Bully Terrorist to others like those who bullied
us.
A good way to
identify your "Bully Beast Of Personal Terror" is
to do an honest "Fear," "Intimidation" and
"Complacency" inventory. List under each category
those things you felt "Fear," "Intimidation"
and "Complacency" about as a child, a teenager, adult,
parent, employee, boss, wife, husband, lover, friend, etc. You
can break these three "Triads of Terrorism" into as
many sub categories as possible to simply identify they varieties
of "Emotional Terrorisms" you have experienced in
life.
One of my favorite
is being skinny. As a kid, people called me "Spider Legs"
and "Slim" and a host of other labels that made me
feel less than. Another is my nose. I thought it was huge and
would stand in front of the mirror, turn sideways, hold a hand
mirror in my hand, and examine how long my nose was and how
my upper lip hung over my lower lip.
By the time I
was through beating up myself, I was ugly. I'm not. Lots of
people think I'm handsome. Today, I'm quite a large, strong
man, but underneath what looks like a linebacker is a skinny
kid with a long nose and overhanging upper lip.
Another example
is business. I rose quickly in the corporate world to command
a huge power turf as senior vice president of one of the world's
largest companies in its field. Still, I felt insecure and inept
inside, and my Beast of Terror told me that one day everyone
would discover I was a fraud and a fake. I would stand on the
toilet seats in bathrooms listening to what I thought people
were saying about me.
I submit that
anyone who shuns their Triads of Terrorism makes the same mistake
a soldier does when walking through a mine field without first
checking out where one is. He or she will ultimately step on
one and be shocked when a foot or leg or arm blows off.
Vigilance balances
the Beast of Personal Terror.
The Principles
of Vigilance--Courage, Conviction and Right Actions for the
Children's Children's Children--neutralizes the power of the
"bully."
That's essentially
what this website is all about.
As you move through
the stories and articles, and study the grist of this site,
you will learn how to overpower your own Triad of Terrorism,
and, more importantly, learn how to pass the power of Vigilance
on to your loved ones, your children, those you care about the
most.
As a result,
you'll learn to live in the NOW! You'll be able to walk through
life with your head held high and proud.
Enjoy this site.
Learn from it
as we learn each day we write about Vigilance.
Your best tool
to keep your "demons" in check is to become a Sentinel
of Vigilance. You can do that by taking the Pledge of Vigilance.
Below is a link
to a printable version. Take the Pledge.
Live by the Principles
of Vigilance.
Enjoy life free
from the shadow of our own "Internal Terrorism."
Vigilantly Yours,
Cliff McKenzie,
editor
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