No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. ~~Eleanor Roosevelt
I love Mrs. Roosevelt. She was tough, feisty, intelligent and outspoken. And here, she’s just plain right.
It’s time for my high school reunion this fall, so lots of memories are churning up, not all of them good. Like many Americans, I found high school my own special hell. I was bullied and labeled and made to feel inferior. And for the first three years, it worked.
But then I got sick and was told I was going to die. All of a sudden, things gained perspective.
I don’t recommend such a radical kick in the butt, but it worked for me. What Roosevelt says is true. We don’t like to accept it, but it is. It’s hard to accept when we’re kids, but we have to put it out there to them. If the bullies in school (and I include both students and teachers here) make you feel inferior, you are letting them.
You are inferior to no one. Don’t you ever fall for that!
I’m going to reunion in October, not to confront the bullies or even to talk to them. They don’t remember they did it and would be shocked to think they were ever little rotters in HS.
I did have friends in school, good ones, and I’m going to see them. If I stay away, the bullies have won once again.
