Being a stand up person

Had some reflections earlier on becoming and being a stand-up kind of person:

"I've got to learn how to stand up for myself before I can be counted on to stand up for anyone else."


"It's only when I'm a stand-up kind of person that anyone else will stand up for me."


"I know my little son is going to be a stand-up kinda man, he nearly beat his sister to death for touching the flower he picked for me, heehee (expressed appreciation for the sentiment, but not for hitting sissy)......... There must be some kind of stand-up in me already for him to have gotten it......cool beans!"

"Self-awareness creates self confidence and self confidence reaps confidence in you from other people."

All of this is well and good, but what if there are no people around you who have their own self confidence, are not themselves stand-up kinds of people?

We live in a community where many people talk about each other but never to each other. It is a community where many people will rush to stand against one another but never for one another. They are like broken records asserting how great they are but unable to assert any greatness that exists in them. They boast of their own good deeds but never about anyone else's. From what I've witnessed, every act of giving, of generosity, from these people is actually an act of entrapment for which the receiver will pay later with debt held against them or a bad reputation given to them. That is why stand-up people in need of assistance don't ask for it unless truly desperate. That is why so many won't even give this group a second glance...they assume it won't be any different.

So, can we be different? Can we bring out the stand-up person within ourselves and each other? Can we draw to us any stand-up people who ARE out there?