When you cannot be intimidated, and you refuse to intimidate anyone else you are free. This is difficult to achieve in a world where bullying and intimidation seem to be the rule of the day. If you watch and listen to the interactions you see daily between spouses, friends, parents and children, supervisors and those under their supervision, teachers and students, and almost any other interactional relationship you can imagine, I believe you will most likely see evidence of bullying and intimidation. I define bullying as any attempt to control, dominate, or manipulate another person. The most common way I see this is done is through invoking fear and controlling through intimidation. Some parents threaten their children in an attempt get them to obey using fear tactics. Often bosses and supervisors will make subtle, and not so subtle references to those under their supervision to remind them that they have power over them and their financial well-being. Even some nations use the threat of force and political and economic arm twisting to wield power over other nations. Some religious leaders use religious doctrine as a tool of control and manipulation, as if to imply that God is a bully.
As we manage our own lives and discipline ourselves for success, we acquire freedom from the manipulation of others and we free others from any control or domination that we may be tempted to have over them. If parents have modeled self-control and trained their children to make decisions for themselves, the process of relinquishing the controls so that they can become independent adults becomes easier. Unfortunately, many parents continue to control and manipulate their children even when their children have grandchildren of their own. Even more unfortunate is the fact that bullying, manipulation, and control are becoming more prevalent in our world. We can become the heroes who reverse this dangerous trend by refusing to be bullied by these ghosts of fear, manipulation, and control. When we become the boss of ourselves, we will set others free from our controlling behavior and encourage them to become ghostbusters and bosses. Self-government is the most powerful and effective form of government!