While not everyone behaves well with others, that doesn’t mean we should lower our standards.
Today is Christmas Eve. Even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, you are aware of it. The theme of the season is Peace on Earth. Goodwill towards all.
It’s very hard to have goodwill towards a bully. They are mean, they treat other people horridly and they cause a lot of suffering in the world. It’s pretty much impossible to feel peace if you are being bullied. I get that.
If you are being bullied though, I want you to take this time to consider your bully differently. Yes they are mean. Yes they torment you. Yes they are a flawed human being. Feel compassion for them anyway. Wish them well.
You have no idea what all is wrong with their lives that they are behaving the way they are. But I assure you – they have things wrong in their lives because everyone does.
Feeling goodwill towards others doesn’t mean you allow them to treat you bad. It just means you respond to them with compassion instead of with fear and/or anger. You block their attempts to harm you, but you do so in a way that does not cause harm, except what they do to themselves.
Let them be the angry horrid person they are. Feel sorry for them that they don’t seem capable of experiencing happiness like a normal person. Don’t give them any more of your emotional time then absolutely necessary.
I realize this shift in mindset to feel compassion for someone who is tormenting you is scary. But try it out anyway and see if it helps you feel differently. This isn’t something you do for your bully. It’s something you do for yourself to protect yourself from your bully.
As you practice feeling goodwill towards all with a goal of peace on earth, it will transform you and help you be the person you want to be despite the bullies of the world trying to bring you down.
Good luck.