Will The Bullying Never End

Bullying comes in all shapes, sizes, ages, and situations...

Often those that get bullied are the ones who don't fit in to the perception someone else may have of normal. They may look weak to those that bully, may be naive...

But one thing I've learned in my years as both someone who has been bullied and seen others be bullied, is that as horrible as it  is, if you allow it to, it WILL make you stronger...

That being said, I'm 29 years old, I've been out of college for a little over 11 years, I've been out of college for a little over 5.

I've got a sweet face, and I look anywhere between 16-20 instead of my actual 29.

In middle school I was slightly bullied because my mom was a teacher, that being said, it was verbal and never physical. In high school my freshman year was bully free, I watched and defending some of my friends that were bullied for being special needs.

When I was in the 10th grade my father died of cancer and that is when I was bullied both at school and online (this was before cyber bullying even had a name.) People would message me telling me that it was my fault my dad died and if they had a kid like me they'd want to be dead too. It made no sense, but it hurt, bad. So, I was home schooled for a year and a half. My senior year wasn't too bad. Then I took a year off between high school and college.

In college I was a youth ministry major, it was me, about 4 other girls, and classes full of guys. So the guys chose to pick on me. I thought that because I was in college the bullying would stop, but no, this was worse. The thing is most of those guys didn't realize what they were even doing till I called them on it in a sermon my senior year of college. How did I do that? I preached a sermon about how everyone has a thorn in the flesh and instead of judging others for theirs we should all accept and celebrate the differences of others.

That being said, once college was over I REALLY thought the bullying was done, but the truth is, there are even some adults that bully. Just recently I bullied on social media by someone that thinks I'm a fake celiac. This time, I had so many people defending me, and I also realized that I'm stronger than I used to be. That experience in college taught me to stand up for myself instead of ignore. Ignoring works to an extent but it doesn't change how the words may make you feel. Standing up for yourself CAN change that though, because there is an amount of self-worth in defending yourself.

Another recent  situation is a young girl who thinks she's just "picking" people, there is a fine line between picking on someone lovingly and bullying them. That line can EASILY be crossed. When you pick on someone because you wish you had something they did- that is bullying. It might not be severe, it might not do damage, but it still hurts and you might be planting a seed of negativity that could grow to something as BIG as suicide. THINK about your actions, friends! Please.

Let's do our part in making sure that the bullying that feels like it will never end, does end, at least in our circles.