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Pugilism was an art, the settling of disputes with honour and integrity. We didn’t kick somewhen when they fell, we asked if they had enough and if so, we helped them up, dusted them off and headed to the bar to resume our drinks. Simple life, we all understood the rules and the rationale, an almost egalitarian time.

The human animal was designed for physical combat, to strike and absorb blows, as we repeatedly return to the physics definition of resilience - absorb shock, return to stasis. Resilience is our ability to navigate that which we do not control and return to whatever normalcy becomes, simple really - though, there are as many resilience definitions in the social sciences as there are fields, hilarious if not sad. 

We’ve spoke about the need to accept responsibility for our outcomes as the primary step in adopting preparedness, on the road to a more resilient life. That entails assessing and addressing any personal shortfalls in our physical, mental and financial health. All three are within our control, require no financial investment to improve and are the important for successful outcomes. Sociological and psychological research asserts that physically fit individuals with low stress and healthy finances are better suited leaders in stressful events, whether that be internal to the family or a natural disaster. All 100% within our control, the choice to accept shortcomings and begin the process to fix those is our decision. 

This is not a call to arms, but the realization that in our world there are nefarious actors, those who wish to either use physical force to access our resources, harm us or to use perceived strength as intimidation. Whether or not we believe this is appropriate in a modern society, those on the extremes believe it to be a viable choice. They will use violence or the threat of bodily harm to achieve aims. The probability that you will personally be the target of a threat is not significant, but not zero. As we see more and more economic issues, we see more acts of violence and disorder, countering accepted norms of behaviour, that may lead to you experiencing a rapid onset violent act.

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