I do not think it is a good thing for us to be timid or meek. It does not do us any good to be subservient to others. Even if they are more educated, more intelligent, stronger, wiser, richer, or older than us; they have no right to tell us what to think or what to do, unless we give them that right.

When we are meek, we limit ourselves psychologically and spiritually. It stops us from thinking or doing things that are really helpful to society and ourselves, or from doing the great things we are capable of doing. We become other people’s slaves and have no mind of our own. We then do things according to other people’s will and wishes, and we are not our own person anymore. There is nothing worse than losing our soul to another.

If they are ill-meaning, they can even use us to do things against our true nature, such as lie, betray, cheat or kill.

I think the reason why some of us are meek is because we have been brought up by overly strict parents or an overly controlling older person(s) or society, and as a result we do not have much self esteem or self respect. Some older people even expect young people to be meek and non-confrontational, and as a result, we learn to be silent, unassertive and unresponsive when we are being treated unfairly or are abused by others. This can cause resentment or anger to arise later as we grow up, and as a result we feel helpless and then develop anger, distrust and resentment toward authority or authoritarian figures in general.

Many of us who grew up under a brutal totalitarian society will recognize this kind of situation. 

Moreover, in most Eastern societies we are taught not to express negative emotions such as anger or frustration, and as a result we learn to put up with mistreatment by others, hiding our true feelings.

Emotions such as anger can be useful if we are aware of it, and we can do something positive with our strong energy of anger. Anger or frustration can spur us on to doing greater things for others, ourselves and our society and to change the world we live in.

In an ethical society, we should not have to put up with other people’s bad behaviour toward us, unfairness or abuse. We should have the freedom to voice our displeasure and to let them know that we do not deserve such unfair treatment. If we feel that someone is taking advantage or bullying us, we should let that person know in no uncertain terms. If we do not stand up for ourselves, we are not doing ourselves any good; it is unhealthy and it suppresses our true being.

I know that in oppressive and dictatorial societies this is impossible, but as long as we know and believe in our true nature, which is always good and pure, we can treat anyone in a respectful manner without losing our own self-respect. Many a time, we do not even have to say anything, our quiet confidence and self-respect can be more helpful to us than a thousand words.

In a democratic society it is even a healthy thing to be a little rebellious or anarchic. It is also always a useful thing to follow our instincts when we are confronted with unfairness by others. What I am saying is that it is healthy to think and act spontaneously and naturally, being true to our nature. When we have a healthy dose of self respect we will not allow unscrupulous people or bullies to treat us in any old way. We will not feel fear but courage.

We will have the courage to stand up for ourselves and will be able to choose exactly the way of life we want - within the limits set by the society we live in, and we can choose the life we deserve for ourselves.

Nowadays most children in the west are brought up to voice their displeasure or negative emotions and are taught that it is good and useful to be assertive. There are assertiveness training courses and anger management courses which are helpful to a lot of people. This does not mean western societies are perfect, but it does help when people do not suppress their negative emotions which can result in harmful behaviour toward others and themselves. Therefore, we should encourage our children or young people to be assertive and to be capable of expressing their emotions without feeling embarrassed or guilty.

We should try to develop some self confidence by believing in ourselves, our sense of self worth and talent(s). We all need to feel useful and to have a sense of self worth. It is great if we can be creative in any part of our life, be it writing articles, poems, studying, motivating ourselves and others, teaching any skills that we may have, or helping others in any way we can.

By doing positive things as best as we possibly can, we begin to develop self confidence and respect for ourselves.

If we have respect for ourselves, it is easier to respect others. If we have compassion for ourselves, we can have compassion for others too. If we are forgiving of our own faults, it is easier to forgive others when they do us wrong. If we realize that as human beings it is not easy to be without any kind of fault, we will be more tolerant of other people’s faults without feeling anger or resentment.

When I said it is not a good thing to be meek, I do not mean we should be puffed up with pride and self importance. It is always good to be humble, but at the same time we should try to assert ourselves by expressing our disappointment, hurt or anger in a diplomatic and coherent, clear and polite way when other people treat us unfairly.

It is having the courage to be who we really are, and not allowing others to take advantage of us.

On the other hand, it is also not a good thing to be aggressive and dictatorial toward others who are weaker than us. In many cases, an aggressive person or a bully is someone who is very disturbed psychologically and had never experienced unconditional love or gentleness from his/her parents as a child. It is rare that a person who can remember a mother’s gentle and comforting love can ever grow up to be a tyrant, a murderer or a dictator.

Childhood conditions and early experiences can affect us for years but it is possible to change the way we think, our attitudes and behaviour by becoming more aware, open-minded and more responsible as adults.

When we learn to interact with each other in a respectful way, we can create or influence a society in a way that is useful, happy, harmonious and respected by other societies of the world.