What Makes You Fierce?

Hosted by

Theresa Martinez-Shapiro

Theresa Martinez-Shapiro is the founder of Flexible Being, a Reiki Master, Certified Oracle Guide, intuitive mentor, and writer based in Stockton, California. Through Musings of a Flexible Being, she explores healing, mindfulness, relationships, intuition, and personal growth with a grounded yet spiritual approach.

“Sometimes the fiercest thing you can do is stand beside someone.”

Books to Blogs #22

Book: One Question A Day for Positivity
Date: June 8, 2026

Prompt: “What makes you fierce?

My answer came immediately.

When I see someone being treated or talked to unfairly.

The funny thing is, I don’t think of myself as a particularly fierce person.

I don’t seek out conflict.

I don’t enjoy arguments.

I would much rather have a meaningful conversation than a heated debate.

Yet when I look back on my life, I can see a pattern.

There have been moments when I witnessed something that felt unfair, and before I had time to fully think it through, I had already spoken.

Sometimes that worked out well.

Sometimes it got me into trouble.

As a student, I occasionally challenged teachers.

As an employee, I spoke up to supervisors.

Not because I was trying to be rebellious, but because something inside me struggled to stay quiet when I felt someone was being treated unfairly.

One memory came rushing back when I read the prompt.

My brother had come home late one evening, and my mother was upset. They were having a conversation about what had happened.

Then my grandmother stepped into the discussion and told him not to talk back to his mother.

I remember sitting there thinking, Oh no.

What had been a conversation between two people suddenly felt like two people against one.

Without much thought, I jumped in.

I told my grandmother that the conversation was between my brother and my mother and that he didn’t need both of them scolding him.

As you can imagine, that did not go over particularly well.

The conversation escalated.

Feelings were hurt.

And before the night was over, I had moved out.

Looking back, I can see there were probably better ways I could have handled the situation.

But what stands out to me now isn’t the argument itself.

It’s the instinct behind it.

I saw someone trying to explain himself, and I felt compelled to step in when I believed the situation had become unfair.

That instinct has followed me throughout my life.

It shows up in friendships.

It shows up in business.

It shows up in my work with clients.

Many people come to me feeling unheard, misunderstood, dismissed, or judged. Sometimes they have spent years trying to explain what they’re experiencing to family members, friends, employers, or healthcare providers.

Often, what they need first is not advice.

It’s not a solution.

It’s not someone telling them what to do.

It’s someone willing to listen.

Someone willing to sit beside them long enough for them to feel heard.

The more I reflected on this prompt, the more I realized that my definition of fierceness may be different than what first comes to mind.

When most people hear the word fierce, they picture strength, determination, confidence, or someone commanding attention when they walk into a room.

Those are certainly forms of fierceness.

But I think there is another kind.

A quieter kind.

The kind that rises up when someone is being dismissed.

The kind that says, “Wait a minute. Let’s hear them out.”

The kind that believes every person deserves the opportunity to be heard before they are judged.

I suspect many of you have your own version of this.

Maybe you stand up for the underdog.

Maybe you advocate for a friend who is struggling.

Maybe you defend a coworker who isn’t being treated fairly.

Maybe you simply offer kindness when everyone else is piling on criticism.

Those moments may not feel fierce.

But they are.

As I reflected on this question, I realized something else.

Sometimes fierceness isn’t about standing in front of someone.

Sometimes it’s about standing beside them.

It’s about refusing to let someone walk through a difficult season alone.

It’s about offering support when someone feels overwhelmed.

It’s about helping someone find their footing when the ground feels shaky beneath them.