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Consider this quote from Abe Lincoln
"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
It is that time again, when all of us of a certain age, or weight or emotional emptiness begin to worry and fret. I’m not talking about the anxiety that comes with the oncoming of colder weather, I’m talking rather about the first day of school. I know you are asking yourself why the first day of school would bring on feelings of dread, but for many young people (and I was one of them at a young age) the first day of school is like being a pheasant on opening day of hunting season.
No matter who you are, you have either been on the receiving end, or have witnessed someone being bullied, and regardless of our attempts to eradicate it with cheerful pep rallies or non-bully zone activities, it continues today at school, at work and even in some homes. Bullying in any form is horrible and unfortunately the victims aren’t able to do much about it.
As adults we tell our youngsters to stand up to bullying in any form, but do we do the same as adults when we see it? Do we take the time to call out the bully and to end the reign of terror that makes people suffer and cause emotional distress? Or do we pretend that it will go away, that magically it will some day cease to be a problem?
We all know a person who is a bully, and we know that their bullying is basically caused by their inability to have enough self-worth to make themselves comfortable so they feel that by tearing someone else down they will be stronger or better. The really irritating part of this is if they would stop for two seconds they would soon realize that every one of us has our own demons, our own doubts, our own lack of self-confidence and we are all really on the same plane.
What then can we really do to combat it? Mostly I believe we have to continue to be diligent and watch for it, when we see it, either from kids or adults we need to stand up and say something, to not let the bully go unnoticed for in the end that is the only thing that will truly keep what is happening out in the opening and hopefully if enough of us band together we can keep it from happening again. More importantly though, the best thing we can do is to change the way we think and rather than to tear others down we should feel that our purpose is to lift others up. That is the lesson that you learned in Sunday school years ago that should have stayed with you.
See you next week. Remember, we’re all in this together.