Some of the ugliest people in the world thrive in the format of online trolling. They can anonymously do to others what I imagine others have done to them in real life. It’s true that “hurt people, hurt people” but I feel that enlightened observation has been overused and misused. Just because someone has been hurt does not give them a free pass to bring harm to others, especially innocent people.
Without getting into much detail, I have personally dealt with this kind of public (online) abuse and humiliation. I did not retaliate but it gave me pause. At first, when some random stranger began to lambaste me, I felt ill and hurt and overcome by the unfairness of it all. Then it hit me—they do not know me. This schoolyard (keyboard) bully has no idea what is actually happening offline and they literally do not have all the facts—to which I am privy—of the situation.
Now, when some jack-hole slips into my DMs and I don’t fall madly in love, his retribution does not sting as much. When something I post is misread and followed with sharp criticism and visceral (and irrational) backlash, I am not pummeled into shame and despair. Now, I think to myself, “Is that the best you can do?” “Is name-calling and verbal abuse the most intelligent thing you can think of to say?”
I spent the first eighteen years of my (adult) life being abused by someone I should have been able to trust. That man took all the worst things I thought about myself and used them to lacerate me, spiritually and emotionally. If you can’t top that…
Give me something I can work with or take your negativity elsewhere. I am thankful to be stronger and tougher. The one good thing about being bullied over many years is that you start to develop of a thick skin. Yay me—I’m THICK.
Kick the bullies to the curb and be the best version of yourself! Hope you have a good laugh and something amazing happens FOR you today.
Leave a comment