bullies

In high school, though, if you call someone out on their shit you get bullied. It__ really a horrible time in life. Honestly, I don__ even know why there is an entire genre of books dedicated to it.

They will hate you if you are beautiful. They will hate you if you are successful. They will hate you if you are right. They will hate you if you are popular. They will hate you when you get attention. They will hate you when people in their life like you. They will hate you if you worship a different version of their God. They will hate you if you are spiritual. They will hate you if you have courage. They will hate you if you have an opinion. They will hate you when people support you. They will hate you when they see you happy. Heck, they will hate you while they post prayers and religious quotes on Pinterest and Facebook. They just hate. However, remember this: They hate you because you represent something they feel they don__ have. It really isn__ about you. It is about the hatred they have for themselves. So smile today because there is something you are doing right that has a lot of people thinking about you.

So you were talking crap about me? Hm. I missed it. I was too busy being fabulous.

Bullies were only triumphant when they made other people feel smaller than they themselves felt.

I am still bullied occasionally. However, none of my current bullies really exist. They__e all in my head. Be your own best friend instead of your worst enemy.

Because that saying about sticks and stones is a pack of lies. Unkind words hurt more than anything else. You end up carrying them around in your head, wondering if they__e true. Bruises fade, but self-doubt follows you forever.

I hate my country. There are so many rich people who don't share their shit. They're like spoiled little ten-year-old bullies on the playground. They hog the monkey bars and the slide and the seesaw. And if you complain even a little bit, if you try to get just one spin on the merry-go-round, the bullies beat the shit out of you.

Don't hate the bullies. Experience tells me that hating them, or being angry with them, will always make it worse. Instead, put your arm around them. Love them. Tell them that they are valuable. Tell them that you expect great things from them. They will stop the bullying. They will stop, because they will start to love themselves. And people who love themselves don__ bully others.

If I could give one message to the bullies, it would be this: You are incredible. You are bound for great things. You have the potential to be anybody you want to be. There are people who believe in you. There are people who love you. Be what we know you can be, even if you don__ believe in yourself right now.

If I could give one message to the bullied, it would be this: You are not alone. You are strong. You have a voice. You are beautiful. You are intelligent. There are many kids who want to speak up for you, but they don__ because they are afraid of becoming bullied themselves. There are many of us in the world who love you. I love you. You have the power to end this now. That power is in your voice. Find it. Once you use your voice, bullies want no part of you. If you feel that you lack the courage, fake it until you do. Finally, I know it__ hard to see a life that exists beyond high school. It is there, and it is beautiful.

If bullies actually believe that somebody loves them and believes in them, they will love themselves, they will become better people, and many will even become saviors to the bullied.

That is the trouble with standing up to people, of course. Once you start doing it, you can hardly stop.

I had no idea that I was_destroying people.

Roo: What__ your definition of popularity?Hutch: I used to think people were popular because they were good-looking, or nice, or funny, or good at sports. Roo: Aren__ they?Hutch: I__ think, if I could just be those things, I__ _ you know _ have more friends than I do. But in seventh grade, when Jackson and those guys stopped hanging out with me, I tried as hard as I could to get them to like me again. But then . . . (shaking his head as if to clear it) I don__ really wanna talk about it. Roo: What happened? Hutch: They just did some ugly stuff to me is all. And really, it was for the best. Roo: Why?Hutch: Because I was cured. I realized the popular people weren__ nice or funny or great-looking. They just had power, and they actually got the power by teasing people or humiliating them _ so people bonded to them out of fear. Roo: Oh. Hutch: I didn__ want to be a person who could act like that. I didn__ want to ever speak to any person who could act like that. Roo: OhHutch: So then I wasn__ trying to be popular anymore. Roo: Weren__ you lonely?Hutch: I didn__ say it was fun. (He bites his thumbnail, bonsai dirt and all.) I said it was for the best.

Who who whose smell in the air of her room, whose fingerprints all over her friends_ secret places.

Remember: If someone's trying to pull you down that means they're already beneath you.

I know you don__ want to stand up to the bullies, the peace-breakers, or even the demons among you. You want someone else to handle it, someone else to tell them to stop, someone else to bring the peace. And very often in your life, there will be someone else, and you__l be able to stay in your place of peace. But other times, the peace you crave can only be found by fighting the battle, and the light you crave can only be seen by fighting the darkness.

Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. Try not to take it personally.