Victim vs. Slave? Slave vs. Doormat?

 "The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim." ~Sun Tzu ~



I keep reading such things all over the forums, and blogs, "I am not a doormat." and other such forms of that. What does it mean to be a doormat, I say it means to be a victim.

victim  1 .a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency:  2. a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal agency: a victim of misplaced confidence; the victim of a swindler; a victim of an optical illusion. 3. a person or animal sacrificed or regarded as sacrificed: war victims. 4. a living creature sacrificed in religious rites.


doormat  1. (Clothing, Personal Arts & Crafts / Textiles) a mat, placed at the entrance to a building, for wiping dirt from shoes. 2. Informal a person who offers little resistance to ill-treatment by others.

Sounds pretty much like the same thing to me. Perhaps to some just a matter of semantics, but if you regard the meaning, doormat=victim. No where in there do I see where it means to be a slave in the terms of submissive.
 
slave 1. One bound in servitude as the property of a person or household. 2. One who is abjectly subservient to a specified person or influence.
 
I suppose one could be a slave to an influence of victim behavior, but I choose to be empowered in my slavery.
 
empower 1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. See Synonyms at authorize. 2. To equip or supply with an ability; enable.
 
I lived long enough in the victim state, and I caved in that state too many times, and now I choose to be empowered in my slavery. To be equipped with knowledge that enables me to live it in such a way that I no longer have to be a victim. I have the right to choose. I have the right to tell the world, "I am not a doormat."
 

Life goes on.........