Bullies are notorious for playing fortuneteller to their targets. They laugh at your goals and dreams. They try to derail and sabotage your progress. And they do it because they’re so darned insecure in themselves. Why do you think bullies work so hard at bringing others down?
Realize that all this is very telling about the bullies’ own lives. In many cases, you’ll have the smart kid in your class who always makes straight A’s and makes high remarks and he’s targeted by bullies.
There’s also the girl who can sing like a professional, the boy who wins all the awards, the girl who writes the most beautiful poems and interesting stories, the guy who always gets the promotions at work, or the woman who always gets noticed by potential suitors.
One thing they all have in common is that they’re the ones bullies come for to make their lives as miserable as possible.
In school, I could sing, and the music teacher would pick me to sing solos in the school choir. I also write stories and poems back then and I cannot count the times my bullies told me:
“You’ll never make it in the music business.”
“You’ll never publish any books.”
“No book publisher will ever choose any of your lame stories.”
“You’ll never amount to anything.”
“You’ll never be anybody.”
“You’ll never get married.”
“You’ll never have children.”
“You’ll never be worth a damn.”
And the list goes on…
And each time I’d hear garbage like this from my bullies, I’d think of the sounds I’d hear every time I’d watch Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang and see them talking to an adult, whether it be their parents, or a teacher in class.
I would think, “Wa-wa-w-wa-wa-waaaaaa.” That’s how little I valued their words when it came to things I enjoyed doing and my dreams and goals.
With bullies, it’s always the same old you’ll never this and you’ll never that. But, here’s the thing. People who haven’t accomplished much themselves will always try to drag you down when they think you’re striving for something. And because they haven’t tasted success, they don’t believe that anyone else will (or should) either.
Understand that when bullies predict your failures, they only reveal all their failures and disappointments. That’s right! They’re speaking from their own perspectives. Anytime they tell you that you’ll never succeed at anything, it’s because they’ve never succeeded at anything and likely never will.
What these bullies are also telling you is that they’re afraid that you will succeed and make them feel even more like the losers they are. Realize that your bullies are trying to wreck your optimism, kill your confidence, and crush your self-esteem. And they want to do it before you end up winning at something.
Bullies want you to fail and they want it so badly they can almost taste it. Because, if you do reach success, your win will only reflect back to them their own laziness, failure, and mediocrity. Therefore, they relentlessly try to drum their words of doom into your head to condition you to not even bother to try. Because they know that not trying only ensures failure. In trying to condition you to not try, they’re only trying to ensure your failure.
That’s why it’s imperative that you turn a deaf ear to your bullies’ bogus predictions of your future because they can’t possibly know what their own futures entail, much less yours. You must not allow them to discourage you and cause you to lose sight of your goals and dreams.
Let the trash they talk go in one ear and out the other. Tell them, “That’s your opinion” and laugh at them or maybe scoff and give your bullies a scornful eye-roll. Then turn your back to them and walk away snickering. Look on your bullies with scorn when they try to predict your outcomes because they only do it out of ignorance and stupidity.
Do these things because it’s the only way you’ll keep your power and continue to feel confident. Your self-esteem will thank you for it later!
With knowledge comes empowerment!
You just described all the unstable nutcases on the radical Left.
Thank you so much, Jeanne! 💖 You’re right!
Great read! I’ve known way too many people like this in my life.
Thank you so much, Kirsten! 💖 Unfortunately, those types of people are everywhere!
It’s sad to think that many people out there are being bullied. And as you put so eloquently, they usually target the talented people for they can’t stand to see their success. Thank you for the awareness and for a beautiful post!
You’re very welcome, Simone! 💖 And you’re right, talented and gifted people are a threat to the bully’s power and social status. 💯
“they relentlessly try to drum their words of doom into your head to condition you to not even bother to try. ”
Such words in this post that I appreciate Cherie. Thank you for helping to reinforce these things in my own mind. Drum their words into your head, indeed… Thanks to posts like yours, I have learned not to take what they do personally anymore.
Aww, thank you so much, Stella! 💖🌺🌷You don’t know how this does my heart good to know all this! Continue to grow more confident and strong, sweetie! 🌞
Always! Stella got her groove back… lol
That, she does! 💖😁💃💃💃
I spent so much time as a kid trying to be invisible that there was a murmur of surprise in convocation when I won an award from the daughters of the American Revolution for being good at history. Comments like i didn’t know she was smart rose into the air. I wish i would have paid more attention to the award than the comments.
I can only imagine how hurtful those comments were. But then again, I also probably would’ve been proud of showing them all up. 😁😁😁I made the same mistake as you, sweetie- tried to stay invisible. But as we get older, we realize that staying invisible only suppresses us even more. Thank you so much for sharing this, Molly! So many people can relate with this! 💖🌺🌹
Your post is so true! I unfortunately had to teach my very talented daughters the concept of “leveling” early on. Bullies always want to bring you down to their level to even the playing field in their own mind. I also taught them that the best revenge is a life well lived! Here’s to all of us who didn’t let the negative words of others keep us from “living well”! Best Wishes! Leigh
Thank you so much, Leigh! 💖 And what a lovely story! I’m so proud of you for teaching your daughters what they needed to learn to neutralize the effects of toxic people! Way to go, Mama! 💪💪💪
When I did something good, it was usually assumed that I had cheated or at the very least brushed off as pure luck. You’re so right, bullies don’t like it when targets succeed.
Absolutely! When you have any kind of success, bullies will claim that you either cheated, had a stroke if dumb luck, kissed ass, or slept with someone important to reach success!
Love your Work Cherie
You give good post
Kisses and admiration from me
–Just a humble Fan
Thank you so much, Lance! Sending you lots of hugs! 🤗🤗🤗
Reading through, I discovered that I am the owner of this post.
But it seems you are ones a victim of bully?
Being the owner, I mean that the post is for me, because I really know the true test of bully.
I’m so sorry you experienced bullying, Franco. I feel your pain. Luckily, as we get older, we can grow back our confidence that bullying stole from us. I certain have and I hope you have too. Wishing you many blessings! 😊😊😊
I was once a victim, but not anymore. I’m a victor now! And you can be too! 😊🤗😊🤗