Stop Picking On Me!
Have you ever noticed how there’s always someone around who is willing to help us feel bad about ourselves? Almost as if our every weakness, shortest moment of low self esteem or most difficult day was designed for their comfort.
You know the people who open every wound, initially with words of comfort, before making it clear that they are far above our pain. The ones who make the point that we aren’t as capable as others, or as pretty or as smart but nonetheless they condescend to talk to us sometimes. They are the ones who make us feel that we are of less value when they leave us than we thought we were when they arrived.
It fills me with sadness every time I watch it happen. One person feeding off the pain of another. Which one should I pity more?
In the end we are all victims; there are only victims in a world where each of us is shaped by the actions of others. Sometimes kind others, sometimes cruel. So many of us are bent out of shape that in our own hunger and pain we are driven to hurt someone else. It’s like pass the parcel only it never seems to stop and no one wins.
Why not break the chain? If someone’s hurt you – be unusual and go and help someone else. If you are hungry for feelings of power, dominance and long to feel super special – why not excel in giving praise, encouragement and in supporting others through their pain. Don’t settle for living out a pattern of behaviour that’s shaped you in ways that hurt. Fight back, be the you others will remember kindly and think of with a smile. Break the chain of pain; pity those who can’t. Break free and be the person – you were meant to be.
“A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbour,
but a man of understanding holds his tongue.”
Proverbs 11:12 (NLT)
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour.
Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:31-32 (NLT)