‘Want to know all about preserving your personhood when bullied? Here are all the ways you can keep your humanity intact when people bully you.
Being bullied and being stuck with unnecessary labels can very easily cause a person to self-doubt. It causes one not to believe in themselves and in their own abilities.
Moreover, it can also enable that person to trust their own innate intuition if they let it. It blinds you to people who are true. And it completely zaps your sense of who’s for real and who’s fake. Therefore, it causes the loss of ability to avoid dangerous people.
Therefore, in this post, you will learn all about the importance of preserving your personhood when being bullied.
Once you know all about this important information, you will be better able to guard your mental health against bullying so that you can come through it as strong as possible.
This post is all about preserving your personhood when bullied so that you can come through it with as little damage as possible.
Preserving Your Personhood When Bullied
Bullying is a form of brainwashing. It is repeated, repetitious, and occurs over a long period of time. Moreover, it reprograms your mind and convinces you that you’re nothing.
It eventually blinds you to your own worth as a person and to your own beauty. Also, it blinds you to your own intelligence.
It zaps you of your trust in your own abilities and decisions. You fear that anything you say and do will be wrong. Therefore, you keep your talents and gifts hidden from the world because you fear ridicule.
Self-doubt keeps you paralyzed. You hide your true, awesome self. However, by trying to hide your authenticity from others, you unwittingly push yourself down and make foolish decisions.
Therefore, you must avoid this at all costs.
Here’s how you keep your personhood when people bullying you.
1. Stop Caring what people think of you.
Here are questions you need to ponder. Does it really matter what these creeps think of you? Have any of them reached your level? Do their opinions matter? Who are they that you should care what they think? Do their opinions have any bearing on your life?
They probably don’t. So, stop caring about their opinion of you. Opinions are a dime a dozen and they don’t matter. Moreover, your bullies don’t know you on a personal level.
The weight you give to anyone’s opinion should always depend on who holds it and and the relationship you have with them. In other words, the value you give their opinion depends on who they are and how close you are to them.
Therefore, realize that not everyone’s thoughts or opinions are relevant. Anything they say to or about you means squat.
In order for someone to offend you must first value their opinions. And that means, you must first value them. Stop giving your bullies value they haven’t earned!
Realize that your bullies’ hatred only came from a place of ignorance and stupidity. Or, it could stem from bitterness, jealousy or insecurity.
Therefore, take it with a grain of salt. Only value the opinions of God and your closest family members and friends.
When you stop caring what bullies think of you, you stop valuing their opinions. In that, you stop giving bullies value and consideration they haven’t earned. And ultimately, you stop giving them power.
2. Preserving Your Personhood When Bullied:
Be Yourself.
Continue to be yourself. No matter how others may treat you, always take steps to keep your authenticity.
If you have any talents or gifts, display them with pride. Do things that you enjoy and spend extra time with those who love you and lift you up.
You will be surprised at how great you will feel about yourself. Therefore, bullying will have less of an impact on your self-esteem.
Never lose yourself because of a bully.
3. Have the courage to be disliked.
In other words, do your thing even when others don’t like it. Again, be yourself and stand up for your beliefs and convictions.
Have your own preferences and make your own choices. Do the things you love to do. And lastly, follow your own dreams and your heart. Do all of these things no matter who does or doesn’t like it.
When people bully and ridicule you, this is the time to double down in being proud of who you are.
4. Preserving Your Personhood When Bullied:
Love yourself even when others hate you.
No matter how viciously others may treat you, it’s imperative that you do everything possible to hold on to self-love. Why? Because loving yourself is the most important thing you can ever do for yourself.
You must command respect and love from others. Sometimes, this means having the courage to make difficult decisions. The decision to get rid of toxic people, even those you care about isn’t easy.
Still, you must love yourself enough to know when it’s time to let go and walk away. And when you do this, you must come to a place where you no longer care even the slightest about the outcome.
You must love yourself before anyone else can love you. Therefore, give yourself compassion and self-care when others mistreat you.
5. Re-Frame Every Insult Your Bullies Throw At You.
For instance, you’re painfully shy and quiet and bullies mistake those characteristics for fear. You can use your silence to be a good listener when someone needs to talk.
Therefore, see it for the gift that it is. It may gain you close friends because the other person will feel that they’re being listened to. Moreover, they’re sense that you care about them. And when you take an interest in someone and in how they feel, who doesn’t love that!
Here’s another example. You have a small mole that bullies make fun of. Remember that Marilyn Monroe also had a mole just above her upper lip. But her mole was referred to as a beauty mark. Therefore, it ended up being her trademark.
This is how you re-frame people’s insults. You turn them around and mold them into compliments.
6. Preserving Your Personhood When Bullied:
Stand up to Bullies.
You may be afraid to stand up to your bullies and that’s completely natural. Anytime you stand up to bullies, you’re taking a risk.
However, it’s often worth the risk in the end. If your bullies keep coming for you, you mustn’t back down. Unless they have a deadly weapon, keep fighting and fighting hard. Realize that no one has the right to abuse you.
Know that you deserve to be safe and to live in peace. And when bullies try to disrupt your peace, you have every right to stand up to them and defend yourself.
If you don’t take care of yourself, no one else will. Therefore, don’t wait for someone to come rescue you because, chances are, it won’t happen. It’s up to you to take a stand. Your life is your responsibility. That means that standing up to bullies is your responsibility.
Continue to stand up for yourself, because you, as much as anyone else, deserve to live in peace.
7. Guard your self-esteem.
This means refusing to allow your bullies to turn you against yourself. No matter what other people may think of you, you are the only one who knows who you truly are.
Bullies are known for spinning smear campaigns to turn others against you. Why? Because it’s the only way they can make their lies and accusations seem valid.
However, no matter how convincing the bullies may be. No matter how many people believe the lies and rumors, it doesn’t mean the talk is true.
Only you can judge who you really are, nobody else can. I know it’s difficult not to question yourself when it seems that others hate you.
Anyone who finds themselves in this situation would ask themselves, “What did I do?” or “What did I say?” It’s only a natural human reaction to being ostracized.
Therefore, it’s difficult not to blame yourself.
But please, for your own self-esteem, do not blame yourself. Remember that the problem lies with the bullies, not with you. You are not responsible for what is happening to you.
Hold on to your sense of self and guard your self-esteem with your life!
8. Preserving Your Personhood When Bullied:
Set Your Boundaries.
Setting boundaries is your responsibility. No one else will do it for you. Therefore, you must set boundaries any time someone steps over them.
I understand that it isn’t easy. In fact, it’s one of the hardest things to do. Especially after people have bullied you for so long.
They may have brainwashed you into thinking that you’re to blame for their brutish behavior. Your bullies may have even conditioned you to take the abuse and allow them to ride roughshod over you. Or, you may even fear for your physical safety.
However, at some point, you will have to make a choice. You either stand up and defend yourself or you keep taking it and spend your entire life with people jerking you around.
Setting boundaries means saying no when a bully demands that you do something you don’t want to do. It also means calling out someone who tries to abuse you.
Always set your boundaries. It may or may not change the person’ s behavior. But you’ll feel good just knowing that you didn’t just take it lying down.
9. Enforce Your Boundaries.
Boundaries mean nothing unless you enforce them.
Enforcing personal boundaries is much riskier than setting them. This is because, when you set boundaries, you’re only letting people know what they are. Therefore, the only risk to you is of someone challenging those boundaries.
On the other hand, enforcing your boundaries means that you impose consequences to anyone arrogant enough to cross them. Therefore, once a bully or abuser steps over your boundaries, then, it’s time to enforce them.
Sometimes, you must fight back if people insist on harming you. Don’t be afraid to do so. Your self-esteem will thank you later.
Also, you’ll preserve your personhood and your individuality, in the process.
THis post was all about preserving your personhood when bullied so that you can not only survive bullying but overcome it.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Loving Yourself in an Environment that Hates You
I have suffered the effects of when you don’t do these things. Excellent post, Cherie.
Thank you so much, Michael.