I got made fun of a lot when I was younger. Kids will always find things to make fun of each other for, but I’ll be honest, I was an easy target. For example I went through a phase when I thought jeans where uncomfortable so I always opted for sweatpants. Trust me, wearing sweatpants all the time will get you ridiculed. I even remember adults making fun of me for wearing my ragged sweats. I also had very bad teeth for a very long time. And a clear visual target like that always makes a teen really easy prey for jokes.

But I also didn’t help myself, I’ve always hated anything everyone else thought was cool (Los Angeles Lakers, cough, Dallas Cowboys cough, cough) and that’s just asking to be ostracized. As I’ve shared before, I’ve always been a little different. I’ve always gone my own direction. And not many things will get a teenager made fun of more than going against the crowd.

 

Loner

Even when I was young I was always strict about the things I let take up my time, and the images and ideas I let enter my head. As a teenager I had a policy that I wouldn’t watch movies I deemed detrimental to my development as a person.

This self-imposed ban did more to hurt my social life than anything else I could have done. I skipped movies and parties and games I felt weren’t for me or I felt were a waste of my time. This got me ostracized, misunderstood, and made fun of incessantly (for obvious reasons). Even by true friends who just wanted me to loosen up and have fun (funny, it was always the things they deemed “fun”).

Often I would leave whatever event I felt wasn’t for me just to go home and workout or read. I spent many hours in the gym or in a book while my friends had fun just down the street. Honestly, looking back I’m surprised I had any friends. I really was an outsider.

 

Loser

People used to make fun of my workout ethic.

I’ve always felt that if something was worth my focus it was worth all of my focus, so even when I first started working out in high school I gave everything I had to developing my body. I kept copious notes on every workout. I tracked every exercise and weight and rep in a little black notebook.

On the front of my notebook I taped a picture from a magazine ad to motivate myself. The picture was of a workout bench with a pillow and blanket made up to make the bench look like a bed. The caption said, “obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.” One day my boss at the gym where I worked saw the cover of my notebook and said, “I knew there was a reason you were so weird!”

I wish I could say I had a witty response I shot back at him, but I  didn’t. I never did.

 

Bullying isn’t new

I won’t say getting made fun of doesn’t hurt, because it does. It hurts badly every time. Bullying can be physical, emotional, or mental. And bullying isn’t even limited to kids and teenagers, it happens to adult humans every day. I definitely don’t want to belittle the effects by sharing mostly harmless stories from my own life.

The truth is, bullying of one type or another has been around since the serpent bullied Eve into eating forbidden fruit.

I remember when my dad first told me about Charles Atlas and his anti-bully workout program. Guaranteed to make you a new man! Guaranteed to stop you from getting pushed around by bullies!

But working out until you become big enough to beat up bullies on the beach is probably not the answer. It would be nice if we could all become superheroes and stop all bullying, but as long as there are weak and insecure people there will be bullies (because weak and insecure people bully others). So maybe working out regularly and becoming a muscle-bound monster isn’t for you, but there are still other ways to make yourself more immune to the effects of bullying.

I think the best thing you can do to safeguard yourself is to develop a longterm outlook. And I think, if you can remember a few simple things, the insults could sting a little less.

  1. The things that make you weird are the things that make you special. Like me, maybe one day you will look back and be thankful for the things you got made fun of for because they are the things that make you different from everyone else. They are the things that make you special. Looking back I find it ironic that the things people most made fun of me for before are the things that led to the parts people most respect about me now.
  2. Hurt people hurt people. This phrase isn’t original to me but it is incredibly wise. People who spend time trying to bring you down are usually only doing so because they feel bad by comparison. Remember that and it’ll hurt a little less.
  3. Stick to the things that make you you because the traits you earn when you are younger pay off when you are older. Reading my Bible is another thing I got constantly insulted for when I was younger. But in the same way I saw no point in halfway working out, I saw no point in halfway believing something. So I’ve always spent some time every day trying to learn about spiritual things. It’s interesting that the same people who once ridiculed me are the same people who now come to me for the wisdom I got from doing the very thing they ragged me for. Go figure.
  4. Build your confidence. People who are confident in themselves are usually too strong for weak people who look to build their own reputation at the expense of others. The key is becoming secure in yourself and who you are. (For more info read 3 Ways to increase your confidence and 3 Ways to fight your insecurities.)
  5. Think big picture. You know what type of people always got picked on? People like Albert Einstein, Jessica Alba, Bill Gates, Chris Rock, Justin Timberlake and Oprah Winfrey. So think bigger than your current circumstance and maybe one day someone might be listing your name as a famous person who was once bullied.
  6. If all else fails, workout until you become bully proof (or at least bully resistant) Hey, it worked for the guy in the comic strip ad!