Fighting Through Life

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Inside each and every one of us is a monster…

In some cases, we allow this monster to get the better of us. We relinquish control to the beast inside because fighting the beast is exhausting. No matter how many times we defeat this beast and squash it back down inside, again and again it rears its ugly head. Allowing the beast to take over, to win, is what causes the damage that is oh so prevalent today.

Recently, a man named Charlie Kirk was assassinated during one of his infamous college appearances at Utah Valley University. As of now, there is no definitive answer as to who shot and killed this man. However, to me, their identity doesn’t matter, nor does their motive, their party affiliation, sexuality, or any other personal factor.

The facts matter.

The fact is that someone took it upon themselves to end this man’s life.

I wish I could say this was a novel experience, but we know it’s not, the fact is that things like this happen all the time.

The fact is that since 1999, there have been over 200 gun deaths and over 400 gun related injuries in schools alone.

The fact is that in 2020, the leading cause of death for children and adolescents aged 1-19 was gun deaths. More than cancer, car crashes, or drug overdose.

This platform is not one in which I want to be political. I don’t want to talk about common sense gun laws, our responsibility to set aside personal freedoms to preserve and protect the youth, or my beliefs about the second amendment. What I want to discuss is the issue with letting the beast win.

Every school shooter, every individual who’s taken the life of a child, and even the person who killed Charlie Kirk (of which I loathed) is a coward. They lost their fight with the beast inside and allowed it to consume their lives before turning its focus on the lives of others. Somewhere along the way, they decided that fighting the beast was futile and submitted to its power.

I want to talk about how I agree.

Fighting the beast is futile

Befriending the beast, however, is what we all must do to ensure that the beast does not harm those around us. For most, the beast won’t hurt others to the extent that these shooters have, but do not mistake your small transgressions as pure simply due to their lack of bloodshed.

I have witnessed firsthand how the beast inside me has harmed those that I love the most through aggression, belittling, humiliation and more. Many people have unleashed their beast out on me in minor offenses as I’m sure everyone has been on the receiving side of as well. Sadly, I myself, like many others, have been affronted in more severe ways as well, such as physical and/or sexual violence, psychological warfare, or emotional combat.

Fighting back against the beast inside only fuels the fire in which it thrives. Instead, begin asking yourself questions. Become curious about your beast.

Ask the monster why does it feel so strongly about this topic?

Why is it’s first response to lash out and hurt those around you?

What happened to make it feel like this is the only way to behave?

The more you find out about the beast inside, the tamer it becomes. It is our personal responsibility to communicate with the beast that resides within us. If not to protect the ones that you love, at least to protect yourself, before the beast consumes you and you become nothing more than a monster.

We will never control the beast. We may only hope to train it.