Okay this is vague. But you all have my permission to be vague in the answers too.
Now, for some reason, I think the answer is confidence. Some might say knowledge. Or faith. Or love. But I'm strangely insistent on confidence.
Just another random epiphany/brood session caused by a Sherlock marathon.
Lyra [and the Future]
Favorite Answer
I've been thinking about this question and its potential answers, and I want to answer with a million different things. I want to say "knowledge", I want to say "confidence", I want to say "love", I want to say "acceptance"....
I'm also going to be a little obnoxious and say "It depends on what said person is defending themselves from!" I suppose the answer to that question is just plain "Why, life, of course." But life is different for each person, which is why different people have different answers to this question.
This is just an idea that flew into my head quite suddenly a second ago: I wonder if each person's answer is related to something they feel they, themselves, are lacking. In other words, do each of us who are answering believe that we have the best weapon with which to navigate life and its obstacles? That's a super and even frustratingly vague question but I thought it was an interesting idea to think about for a minute.
I'm dancing around actually answering, can you tell? I don't know what my answer is. I can't give one big blanket answer for everyone, since everyone needs different things... and I think that everyone needs different things at different times. For one single person, the answer could be "love" one second, and then "knowledge" the next. Or maybe all of these possible answers are actually so intertwined that, in fact, it is *that* which is making it so difficult for me to pin down an answer. For example, love encompasses faith, confidence, acceptance, and (emotional) knowledge, not to mention compassion, understanding, patience.... So... maybe that's it? Love? At least sometimes?
So there's that. I plan on coming back if I think I can make this answer more concrete. In the meantime, yay for rubbishy, vague answers :D
Jess H
I would say knowledge. And that actually compliments your own thought about it being confidence, because knowledge inspires confidence.
An argument can also be made for love, and with a similar relationship to confidence, also. Speaking as a mother, the power of love can inspire you to do things that you NEVER thought yourself capable of doing. It's not a joke when you hear stories about mother's lifting trucks off of their children. There is NOTHING you are not willing to do, and there are amazing things you find yourself capable of doing. I could, without a second thought or moment's hesitation, put myself between a 400 pound deranged psychopath and my children, take all the punches he could deliver, and still fight him with everything I've got, when normally I would run away from him as fast as I could. And to my dying breath I could believe that I could at the very least hold him off long enough for my children to get to safety, as I sank my fingernails into his eyeballs. Love is honestly that powerful.
Jahmil Brown
Personality, your personality is your best weapon against everyone and thing. Chances are if you have a great personality you can get people to do whatever you want, get out of the worst problems, get the best jobs, women/men will love you, etc.
?
The ability to strategize. It can be used in any situation and is always helpful. Having faith in yourself is no good if you have nothing to back it up with.
Anonymous
Knowledge and application.
People always say that knowledge is power, application is power. you can know anything in this world and not be any more powerful, unless you apply the concept.