In light of a recent terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England, I’ve heard a few worried parents discussing the limits that they’re going to place on their children to ensure their safety:

“I don’t want my child to study abroad; there’s just too much out there.”

“There’s a concert coming up and I’m going to return the tickets because I don’t want anything to happen.”

While these thoughts are well intentioned, they should not be our response to terrorism. In fact, these are the thoughts that terrorists hope to instill in our minds. They want us to be fearful. Personally, I don’t believe that we should give another person the ability to make us feel fear, to limit our lives, to make us worry about our safety.

So, how should we react? There’s only one thing that we can and should do: just keep moving forward. These incidents are scary and yes, they can happen at public venues, but you can lose your life walking to your mailbox or driving to the grocery store. Are you going to stop buying groceries? Are you going to have your mail delivered to your doorstep? Are you going to strap your child to their bed to protect them from evil? Are you going to be afraid because some cowards want you to feel that way?

No. You’re not. We’re not. Because tragedies happen all over the world, at all times of the day, over the most mundane of things. So, being fearful of the world, of death, can only limit the life that we are given. And the only way that we can truly fight terrorism is to keep moving forward one step at a time - together.

And remember: though we might move slowly, we should never move in fear.