Blog This - Challenge 72

I stumbled across this Challenge through the blog of a friend. Her post was incredibly moving and prompted me to write my own. After all, this blog is about more than just my crafty endeavours - because given they are often short lived, this blog may not survive if that was the case!

So, the Blog This Challenge is to blog -  "If you were the boss of the world, what is one thing you would change?"

There are so many things that I would like to change - I would like to end the stigma that is associated with being childfree, for people to stop saying I am selfish because I don't want children of my own. I would like for the sale of pets through petshops to be banned to prevent impulse purchases of puppies and kittens who often then end up in shelters and destroyed because they simply weren't thought through. I would like to see more funding for the mentally and physically handicapped. The list goes on.

However this week something stands out for me more than any of the others. For this week I have been the victim of bullying. Through no fault of my own I have been blamed for something I did not do, and have been publically slandered on Facebook and have been the subject of many rumours. All this nastiness has propelled me straight back to High School, where the fact I had a handicapped sister made me the victim of many cruel taunts. Being bullied in High School defined me. I know it played a role in my decision not to have kids of my own, and it made me very insecure for a very long time.

For years I struggled with what I had been through, and I am incredibly proud of myself to have overcome it. I am now a successful person, both personally and professionally, and it is a rare thing for me to feel bad about myself (apart from wishing I was thinner, had nicer skin and all the other typical girl stuff!). Yet all that good stuff was forgotten instantly when faced with the bullying of some former colleagues. All week I felt tortured. Why would they blame me? Would it have an affect on my career if people were to hear it? Would I lose friends who chose to believe it? 

It amazed me that almost 20 years out of High School all that insecurity was just sitting below the surface. My good, kind and confident friends told me to shrug it off. That of course I didn't do anything and not to worry about them, but I couldn't let it go. I never expected to be the victim of bullying at 36.

I am almost over it now. As I sit back, gain perspective and surround myself with genuine people, I know I have nothing to fear from these keyboard cowards. But I know that all it will take is another Facebook post and I will be right back to where I started. It makes me feel so bad for the kids being bullied at school nowadays. At least I was born in the 70s, when I could be bullied at school but then go home and feel safe. I could forget about it until the next day. The victims of bullies now have it so much worse in this technologically advanced world. It's online, it's public and it's 24/7.

Let me be the boss of the world for one day, and I would dedicate every resource I could throw at it to find some way to put an end to bullying.

Oh, and if you see those bitches, give them a kick, just for me.