The other day my son was talking about something and he didn’t want to do something he liked because he was worried how others might respond to him liking it.
Haters are going to hate. There is always going to be someone who doesn’t like you for no reason. And they find reasons to try and justify it. My advice, that’s on them. If they want to go through life hating, then I feel bad for them. But I am absolutely NOT going to stop doing things I do like just because someone else has issues.
The world is a really big place. And I assure you there are people who like the same things you do. You just have to find them. Don’t allow peer pressure to steer you away from the things you like.
I realize peer pressure is a lot of pressure. But the people who you admire in the world, did not let peer pressure stop them from doing the things they want to do.
If you like dancing. Dance. If you like opera, go to the opera. If you like rainbow ponies, like rainbow ponies.
There simply is not enough joy in the world and if you find a little bit of happiness, enjoy it. Share it. Geek out on it. But do not let a kill joy convince you to not enjoy it.
If they are sad and angry and can’t stand someone else being happy – feel sorry for them. Ask a teacher to get help for them, but do not suppress your happiness to appease angry people. It won’t help that angry person be less angry.
In my book The Bully Vaccine, I write about the time I decided to be goofy and wear multi-colored striped socks to school on purpose. I rolled up my pants and displayed my striped socks. I looked goofy. I know I looked goofy and I owned being goofy.
The next week – a bunch of the popular girls started doing the same thing. i had started a trend by dressing in an insanely stupid way.
Did I get teased for wearing those socks the first time? I might have. I honestly don’t remember because if I had – I would have brushed off the teasing as stupid. Because teasing is stupid. Bullying is stupid. It’s an attempt by an insecure person to make a confident person stop being so annoyingly confident. It doesn’t help the insecure person be insecure.
Don’t let other people’s insecurities dictate what you like. What you like is what makes you an interesting person worth knowing. So brush off the haters and be you.