(#5900) Getting past the threats

      The thing with a bully is that he is all about using threats to get his way Rarely does he like it when we don't react to his threats. Even worse for the bully is when we counter his threats with threats to him from ourselves. Most of us are civilized in that we don't expect to be bullied like we were when we were in grade school. We like to think we are living in an age where the childish things of our past are long gone and sensible actions are the normal. Well with the election of trump that is now the fantasy and the uncivilized bullying is the reality. So how do we respond?
     Simple, we stand up to the bully. It may sound simple but for many it is not. Being bullied leaves a psychological scar and if not dealt with early on in life when the bullying occurred the trauma of bullying picks right back up where it left off back in our childhood. The good news is that we can still overcome bullying by standing up to it. We just have to find our courage to do it. The thing also about courage is that it can still be found even if it wasn't found back when we surely needed it when we were young and bullied. Like a mulligan or do-over, we can move beyond this obstacle if we haven't already. I dealt with my bullying back as a boy and again later as a teenager. It is a process that needs vigilant effort to achieve.
     Now that I am an adult I don't find being bullied scary, I find it to be sad. Yet my response is unwelcoming to the bully despite the pity I feel for the bully. I will go nose to nose with any bully at any time because I know that is how to negate bullying. Bullies are cowards and one metaphorical, or not, punch to the nose is all that is needed to send the bully scurrying away. All of us need our stand up to the bully moment even if it brings out our fear and makes us cry while doing it. Whatever it takes to not back down and get ourselves moving toward an appropriate response in that moment. Courage is whatever form it takes to make the bully learn, the easy or hard way, that his bullying won't work on you or me.