Bullying!... it's Journal Entry Friday!

THE GOAL OF A BULLY IS TO BREAK YOU!
...to break your spirit
...to shatter your self-confidence.
...to break the image in your mind of who you are.
...to chip away at the strength you have to one day be the best YOU you can be.
...to overpower you to make themselves feel better.
...to pull you down so low that they will be above you.

But the truth of the matter is - bullies are the lowest on humanity's totem pole
Their bellies touch the ground.
You can't get lower than  that.

ALWAYS WALK AWAY!
No matter what they will say about you after you leave.
You know who you are.
You know you have what is missing from their lives.
You know by walking away you are stronger than they will ever be.

Pray for their pain to cease so they can see the beauty the hate keeps them from finding.

Write a letter to a bully who has targeted you.
He/she will never see this letter.
But your words will bless you and take the edge off the pain they have caused.

Tell them why their hate won't scathe you anymore...
Explain to them what your life has that makes it easy to walk away from them...

Write a letter to yourself and praise the beautiful young woman you are!
Give yourself compliments you may never have heard.
Highlight the things that bring beauty into your life.
Celebrate that beauty!

I know many of you are hurting everyday b/c of the words or actions by another teen. I know it hurts.

But just remember:

"The days will come when you don't have the strength

When all you hear is you're not worth anything

Wondering if you ever could be loved

And if they truly saw your heart they'd see too much
You're beautiful You're beautiful

You are made so much more than all of this..."
~MercyMe

Here's your journal page:

I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU AND I KNOW YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

SKUNKS - they just spread the stink!

So, I have been thinking alot about SKUNKS.

Yuk!

I don't dislike the skunks, I guess.

But I do hate their STINK!

Here's the thing with SKUNKS:

• they are carnivores - out for blood
• they are sneaky and only lurk in the shadows - They simply aren't a very brave species because you rarely see them out from under a safe cover and when you do, they are running to hide behind something else
• when threatened the SPRAY - a small amount goes a long way, their negative stench can be smelled for miles and can reach farther in a short amount of time than they could go on foot
• they are the chief carrier of rabies - They are quick spread disease among their kind as well as other species who cross their paths
• they have these really nasty sharp claws that they use to dig - They can find things below the surface by digging deeper than most species would care to take the time to do
• they are loners - they can "coexist" with other carnivores but rarely allow themselves "close" to others of their kind or other species
• we ignore them - we stay out of their way and we don't get sprayed, right?

So, you are asking.... why the conversation about SKUNKS?!

Think about the last person who said something unkind to you that was just UNCALLED FOR... SKUNK!

Think about that comment posted on your facebook that hurt.... SKUNK!

Think about the girl in school who always has a negative comment about other people... SKUNK!

Now, go back and re-read the description of SKUNKS and put those people in your mind in place of a furry little animal.

I have thought about this for a long time...

People who put others down, make fun of people, bully, etc are PUBLICLY ADMITTING that they have low self esteem.

They might as well have a shirt made:

So, when these kinds of people cross your path - although it is sad to watch them head down a dangerous path - sometimes it is best to just head the other way. Ignore. Look away. Avoid. Just like you would if they had a long black and white tail and a REALLY stinky BUTT!

So, this has me thinking:

Could we change the way we think about people who bully? What if we actually started to SEE their actions as a cry for help? Instead of seeing them as strong - their actions prove that they are weak - so, what if that's how we started to see them?

I am NOT suggesting that the rest of us start feeling SUPERIOR! I am just wondering if the bullies realized that their actions were alerting people that THEY THEMSELVES are INSECURE - maybe they would stop.

Maybe if more people knew that bullying was actually a clinical symptom of depression (this is true!), the kids who bully would get help quicker and before the problem got worse. Before they hurt someone or themselves. Maybe the bullies wouldn't act out if they knew WE knew what those actions were saying about the state of mind they were in.

So, this logo needs an acronym - what could the letters S.K.U.N.K stand for that would get this point across in a respectful yet creative way?

CONTEST!

The person who comes up with the BEST acronym wins THE FIRST T-SHIRT of its kind with YOUR acronym on it!

Send your entries in the comments section!