“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
A few weeks ago, a gentleman named Matt Pinner, whom I follow on X, posted a simple question. "What does the world need most right now? Use one word."
Access the post here.
My response was:
What the world needs right now is meekness — not weakness.
The strength to speak truth without hate.
The courage to listen without ego.
The humility to forgive without forgetting the lesson.
Power guided by discipline creates peace.
The Misunderstood Virtue
We live in a world that rewards quantity over value.
More clicks over quality content.
Everyone is talking, few are listening.
Active listening is secondary to talking over people.
Everyone is fighting to be right, few are striving to understand.
In that chaos, meekness has been mistaken for weakness.
But true meekness isn’t about silence or submission.
It’s about control — the disciplined restraint of power.
I am actually amazed at how many people do not know the true definition of meekness.
I also did not understand its true meaning for years.
I grew up thinking "meek as a mouse" or "timid as a mouse."
Cartoons, Hollywood and school blinded me from the true meaning of the word.
I researched more and found that the mouse has long been used in Western literature and folklore as a symbol of timidity, gentleness, and smallness. In the Middle Ages and early modern English literature, “mouse” became shorthand for someone mild or submissive. The idiom “as quiet as a mouse” was already well established by Shakespeare’s time (late 1500s). From there, “meek as a mouse” naturally evolved as a variant to emphasize gentle nature rather than silence.
Culturally, the “meek mouse” became a metaphor for harmlessness and humility — but also, unfortunately, powerlessness. That’s where the confusion begins.
Over time, “meek” came to mean timid, submissive, or weak, largely because of these small-animal metaphors — “mouse,” “lamb,” “dove.”
But that’s not what meek originally meant.
In ancient Greek, the word translated as meek in the Bible (πραΰς, praus) referred to a trained war horse — strong, fierce, and powerful, but under control. It meant “power restrained for a purpose.”
So while culture turned “meek” into “mouse,” the original meaning was closer to “a disciplined warrior.” A Day Warrior.
Meekness is the warrior’s calm before battle, the parent’s patience when correcting a child, the leader’s poise under pressure.
It’s strength under control.
Strength Without Hate
Real strength isn’t measured by the volume of your voice,
but by your ability to speak truth without letting hate take over.
Strength comes in actively listening.
That means really listening to hear what the other person is trying to say.
How do you do this when the other person is in less that polite terms is, "bat shit crazy?"
It’s easy to talk about active listening and meekness when the conversation is calm and rational. It’s much harder when the other person is emotional, manipulative, or completely detached from reason. That’s when meekness is truly tested — when restraint feels like weakness, and silence feels like surrender.
How does one deal with a situation like this?
Redefine the Goal: You’re Not There to Win
When someone is irrational, winning the argument is a fantasy.
The goal shifts from persuasion to preservation — of your peace, your clarity, values, and your discipline.
Active listening isn’t about agreeing. It’s about understanding the terrain.
You listen to map the chaos, not to fix it.
You stay calm so you can see patterns — their triggers, their fears, the root of their behavior.
That information is power.
Power guided by discipline = meekness.
"The first rule of conflict: Don’t wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”
Engage Without Absorbing
Active listening doesn’t mean emotional matching of the crazy person you might be listening too.
It means observing without letting their storm enter your system.
Try this mental model:
Hear the words. Don’t internalize the emotion.
Notice the pattern. Don’t take it personally.
Identify the core. Most anger hides fear or pain.
Meekness is the discipline to hold space without surrendering your center.
You don’t match chaos with chaos — you anchor yourself deeper in calm.
“Your peace is your responsibility. Guard it like treasure.”
Set Boundaries Without Emotion
Meekness doesn’t mean letting people walk over you.
It means setting calm, firm, immovable boundaries — without emotional charge.
You can say:
“I hear you, but this conversation isn’t productive right now.”
“We’ll revisit this when things are calmer.”
“I’m not engaging in this tone."
You stay factual. You stay steady. You hold your line.
That’s meekness in motion: unshaken strength disguised as composure.
It’s easy to attack, harder to persuade.
Easy to react, harder to respond.
Easy to win the moment, harder to win hearts.
A disciplined man knows when to speak — and when to pause.
He chooses words that cut through lies, not through people.
He stands for something but doesn’t lose himself in the fight.
That’s the kind of strength the world needs:
Conviction without cruelty.
Power with principle.
Fire guided by purpose. This is something I did not learn until much later in life and that would have served me better in my younger days. I wasted a lot of time trying to figure out who was right and wrong with friends, girlfriends and co-workers.
Today it is all about who is right and wrong in political discussions. I always had this strong need to make the other person understand my views and adopt my opinion. That is not the way the world works our how people's minds work. In many situations, their opinions are assigned to them to the point of being brainwashed. This is why meekness is so important in today's world. You need to be able to stand your ground but remind yourself you are not really in this to win, but to engage without giving in to their delusions or false beliefs and you must remain emotionally detached.
“Speak the truth, even if your voice trembles — but never let that voice be fueled by hate.”
Courage Without Ego
Expanding on the previous section where we highlighted a few tools to actively listen even when the other opinion may not be completely rational I want to remind everyone of an important item.
Listening has become a lost art.
In a world of constant noise, few have the courage to sit in silence —
to hear someone else’s view without instantly defending their own.
Remember, our ego always wants to win the argument and our courage wants to understand.
Listening without ego doesn’t mean you agree.
It means you respect the process of truth-seeking more than the satisfaction of being right.
This kind of humility creates connection.
It allows leaders to grow, teams to align, and families to heal.
“The moment you stop listening is the moment you stop learning.”
A Day Warrior knows:
Your strength is multiplied when your mind is open.
Courage isn’t in dominating others — it’s in mastering yourself.
I preach this all the time. Every time you truly listen, you expand your perspective.
You uncover blind spots.
You collect fragments of truth that experience alone can’t give you.
That’s how wisdom is built — one moment of humility at a time.
When you listen, you learn.
When you learn, you adapt.
When you adapt, you evolve.
Listening is more than communication — it’s training.
How do you know when you are wrong?
Scott Adams — creator of Dilbert and author of Win Bigly: Persuasion in a World Where Facts Don’t Matter — has a number of insights about how to question one’s own opinions and avoid being trapped by cognitive dissonance.
Active Listening & Opinion Checking
When you listen, go further: Listen with the intent to learn, not just to respond. Ask yourself:
What am I assuming that might be wrong?
What viewpoint am I not seeing because of my beliefs?
If this person is right, how does it change my model of the world?
This keeps you humble, open, and aligned with growth rather than ego.
Making it Routine or Making it a System
Consider a simple ritual after you form an opinion: Write down — “What evidence would change my mind?” Or even, “Here’s how I might be completely wrong about this.” Over time this trains your mind to tolerate discomfort and reduces the grip of dissonance.
Embrace Mistakes as Data
Scott Adams says mistakes expose your mental model. When you realize you were wrong, reflect: What framing error did I make? What assumption failed? This turns every “wrong” into a win for discipline and growth. This helps you keep your ego in check when the priority is not winning but learning.
Detach from Identity & Team Thinking
If you tie your self-worth to being right, you’ll shrink your growth. Avoid being locked into a team or brand that demands you always support the part. That freedom gives you true strength.
Humility Without Forgetting
Forgiveness isn’t forgetting.
It’s remembering without bitterness.
It’s carrying the lesson forward, not the weight of resentment.
Many confuse forgiveness with passivity.
But forgiving takes more strength than holding a grudge.
It’s an act of self-liberation.
Remember hate wastes time and energy. Hate allows the person or group you hate to steal your time and freedom.
Forgiveness puts you back in control.
I briefly talked about this in a recent post:
Access the post here.
Hate is a wasted emotion.
It drains our emotional energy. When you hate, you give your energy to things or people you hate instead of using your energy toward things or people you love or creating value in your life.
It clouds our judgment. Hate can fuel impulsive, destructive, or harmful decisions.
It blocks our personal growth. It keeps us trapped in the past, preventing progress and improvement in the present. We miss opportunities to learn, grow, and build meaningful relationships when we hate.
When you forgive, you break the chain that keeps anger alive.
You redirect that energy into discipline, growth, and clarity.
The lesson remains — sharper than ever —
but your spirit stays clean, light, and ready for the next challenge.
“Forgive others, not because they deserve it, but because you deserve peace.”
Humility turns pain into wisdom.
Wisdom turns scars into guidance.
Choose When to Exit
Sometimes the only winning move is to walk away — gracefully.
When someone’s anchored in chaos, logic and empathy won’t land.
You preserve your energy and dignity by disengaging with purpose, not pride.
You can’t heal irrationality with words, but you can model emotional maturity.
And sometimes, your silence becomes their mirror
Meekness is power under control. Active listening is awareness under control.
When you combine the two, you become unshakable.
You don’t stoop to madness; you study it.
You don’t fight noise; you outlast it.
That’s the discipline of a true warrior in a loud world.
The Day Warrior
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