I once owned a snake. I loved my snake. I fed him little white mice everyday.  I watched, as he struck and coiled the overmatched mice.  One day, I dropped a mouse in his cage and watched.  But, the mouse did not run in fear.  He rose up on his hind legs and, when my snake struck, clawed at his face.  My snake, dumbfounded by the engagement, retreated to strike again.  He lashed out once more, but once again the mouse struck him in the face.  My snake did not strike again.  He withdrew to a corner unable to move.  The mouse reigned the cage.  He drank the water, played with the toys, in an almost mocking manner. I didn’t know what to do.  I dropped another mouse into the cage. But, the second mouse just hid behind the first. My snake died of starvation. 

Some of us look tough, some of us are tough.