A “wise” person once told me to pick my battles, and not give everything a reaction.

While I would normally agree with this concept to a point, I have to admit that I also believe in defending myself when I feel personally attacked.

Unfortunately, we all are going to experience people bashing us or spreading untruths about us. That’s just how life is, and it can really hurt sometimes.

However, we do have every right to defend ourselves from slander and personal attacks.

There will be times that someone may spread a lie about you or say something that really gets to you but you have to decide whether or not you want to react to this.

I do agree wholeheartedly that sometimes it is better to not react and just let the person think and say what they want to. After all, some people are not worth your time at all.

There are other times when the slander becomes way too much and you feel as though you need to defend yourself to this person and others. This could be through a conversation with the perpetrator or by explaining to others that what this person is saying is just completely false.

I personally was in a situation recently where the slander became extremely unbearable and I felt as though I needed to defend myself and explain my story and prove that this person was not telling the truth.

Though my idea of confronting the person did not work out, I at least tried my best. But, I got negativity from others who claimed that I was “doing too much” by defending myself and that I needed to let it go.

I am here to say that if I feel as though I need to stand up for myself, defend my reputation and myself as a person and ask the perpetrator why they would say and do what they did, then you better believe that that is what I am going to do.

I have every right to defend my character and reputation, just as the rest of you do, and if I feel that a situation like this is something that I need to step in and react to, then I am going to.

I will simply not accept others’ judgement because I choose to defend myself. I have every right to do that. I know that if you were in the situation that I was, you would fully do the same thing.

Maybe some of you would not, and that is your choice and decision, but you have to think about it and make that decision for yourself.

Do not let others sit there and judge you and rip into you because you defended your character and reputation.

They are not in charge of your life, and they have no right to step in and try to take control.

Maybe there will be a situation where you do not need to react, but if you feel as though you need to, that is your decision and I am here to say that some may not respect your decision, but I always will.

Andrew Paisley is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at abpaisley@eiu.edu