Turning the Other Cheek

Or: How fight/flight/freeze actually plays out best

For the longest time, I understood “turning the other cheek” as offering up your face to be hit again. I think most of us have. But what if it’s not that? What if “turning the other cheek” actually meant turning it even further and walking away?

What if we took back control of harmful situations by simply removing ourselves from them? What becomes possible then?

Over the years, I have heard and read stories of people thinking that the best way to deal with such situations is either by digging their heels in and fighting or by disengaging and passively allowing them to continue—because there seemed to be no other option if you didn’t want to “stoop to their level.”