I am so ready to discuss bullying! How about you?
Bullying is a tactic that everyone has used at some time in their lives whether we want to believe it or not. Oh yes, I hear some people screaming at me right now.. I have never bullied anyone! and that thought right there is a bullying thought.
Instead of just asking yourself that question why not ask how will we deal with the reality that bullying brings to our lives.
We have all been bullied. We have all been picked on, ridiculed, pushed around and been afraid.
What did you do about it?
Most of us just got through it and snuck away. Some of us tried to stand up to it and it made us feel better and it beat some of us down. Bullying has no rhyme or reason.
But here is what we all know... sometimes we have been the bully and sometimes we have been the bullied. I recently heard a story of a guy in a bar and other guys were pelting him with straws. Doesn't sound like much does it? But how would you feel? If the next time you went to a restaurant someone kept pelting you with straws, or spit wads or... you see, it doesn't matter what it is... it's the fact that they were doing it and getting away with it... and what if you asked them to stop and they just flipped you off and kept doing it? What then?
You see, bullying is all around us, from the playground as kids, to the 'mean girls' and boys of high school, to the bars as we grow up, to the office where someone sexually harasses us, uses their position as a power over us. And what we know is...
We get past bullying in all situations be 1) recognizing the bully 2) acknowledging our ability to deal with it or get out 3) standing up to the bully and situation 4) becoming a person who is strong enough in ourselves to deal with the bullying.
So the next time you feel bullied ask yourself this one question...
What am I willing to do about it?
Steve Sapato is a bullying expert and is helping people deal with bullying situations in many areas of their lives. www.stevesapato.com
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