Ask Her

14 years ago there was a 13yr old girl. She became heavily invested in anatomy books and began reading grisly material no 13yr old girl should have had any interest in.  
 
She read these things not because she was actually interested in becoming a doctor, but because she needed to know where the major arteries on the human body were. She became very interested in knives.  
 
Ask why that 13yr old girl felt the need to do this. Ask her what it was like standing over his bed with a knife. Ask her what went through her head when the gravity of what she was about to do hit her and ask her why she froze, why she couldnt bring herself to.
 
Ask her why she begged to her own grandfather until he allowed her to go to a TKD school.  
 
When she was 18 she learned to fire both rifle and handgun. She learned how to throw grenades. She learned how to swiftly and efficiently break down doors, drag men twice her weight, and how to treat combat wounds. When she was 18 she developed a drinking problem.  
When she was 18 she also joined an MMA/army combatives gym on what is now Ft Cavazos  
When she was 21 she chose a Krav Maga school so she could remain sharp and vigilant
When she was 25 she settled into a BJJ lifestyle
 
She is now 27 and wishes she didnt live in a world where she had to learn how to take another life in order to feel safe.  
 
I no longer pick the bear for myself. I pick the bear for that 13yr old, because that 13yr old girl would have chosen that bear. Would have rather faced that bear than her own uncle and she would have proudly stood her ground as that bear charged her and she inhaled her last breath.