It is important for one’s survival to be assertive about certain matters of safety. If you are in a vehicle with a ‘tipsy’ driver speeding on the highway, having consumed more than two drinks, and you stay quiet; you are contributing to criminal negligence.
You may be on your way to hurting another person in the oncoming vehicle, a pedestrian on the sidewalk or on the verge of hurting yourself and your friends in your vehicle. You may not be the trigger but you are part of a vehicle that has the potential to become a weapon of mass destruction.
To stay quiet and peaceful, if that is possible at all, is not an option. If you do, you are being negligent and criminally so. You are being passive, in the moment when assertiveness is required.
Assertiveness is the ability to stand up for your rights, opinions, ideas, beliefs and desires while at the same time respecting those of others. In this case, your passivity ignores your need for safety and self preservation. Assertiveness is the emotionally intelligent way of having your needs met; it takes into account your thoughts, ideas and feelings as well as those of the other party in a way that works to your mutual benefit. Assertiveness is communicated both through the words you use and the way you use them, and through body messages. Stand up, speak up, and raise an alarm for the safety of yourself and others.
