At my daughter’s school last week I was invited to sign a petition speaking and standing up against bullying. I did.
Then I went home and wondered what Mother Theresa would do. She was once invited to speak at an anti-war demonstration and declined, saying, “If you have a pro-peace rally, I would be glad to support it.”
So if I am anti-bullying, what am I for?
Then I went down the rabbit hole a little further, remembering that the outside world can only reflect what is already going on inside me. Am I ever a bully? Where is that energy, that approach, living inside me?
And what came up was that I am very good and steeped at bullying…myself! Ouch, but true.
When I judge myself as weak, too sensitive, or failing in some way, I sometime shame and blame and beat myself up… just like a bully would, preying upon those in the schoolyard that might be perceived as weak or extra sensitive. I don’t used fists, but the verbal assaults on my dignity and self-respect are just as violent, and hurt just as much, if not more. I belittle myself, and then feel quite little. I stop holding, and start scolding myself. To punish is to make one feel puny. Punishing self with shame puts me in my place, or at least the place my ego thinks I belong in. It's a small, painful and quite familiar little place that I huddle in the darkness in.
So, in order to step out of that place and into the light and take another step in learning to love myself, I recently created a round of tapping to release that old habit and replace it with a far more gentle way of being with myself. It’s here:
Healing Your Self-Bullying
Please tap along. You will feel more love, and you will be doing your part to help create a world with less and less bullying, a world where gentleness is celebrated and seen as strength, not weakness.
People bully because they have been treated that way themselves, and are trying to feel better, to re-connect with their own personal power. You will notice in this tapping round that I spend some time and attention on loving and nurturing the bully. It does not work to shame the part of you that is shaming. To judge a part of you as bad or unwanted creates more divisiveness and pain. Love unites, and only love heals. Let's give some AND get some:
Healing Your Self-Bullying
I LOVE YOU,
Scott
Scott Grace is the Spiritual Dr. Seuss for adults. His YouTubes, which have received over 2.5 million views, can be enjoyed at: https://www.youtube.com/user/skalechstein
