When I was in high school, I did a lot of stuff and won a lot of awards. I made good grades; so good that I got a full scholarship to a college that I hadn't heard of before I went there.
I was in plays, I sang in the chorus, I edited the newspaper, I lettered in tennis. But above all, I made really good grades. So good that I graduated at the age of 16.
"You think you're so smart!", people that I didn't even know would say to me. I didn't show off about it, really. But yes, I did think I was so smart. Part of being smart is thinking that you're smart. Like you're smart enough to realize you're smart. And that most people are not.
At my senior year awards ceremony, I won a LOT of awards. Like ten or so. When I got up to get award number 9, this delinquent kid said to me quietly, "If you win one more award, I'm going to kill you." Well, I won another award and he didn't kill me, but it was still pretty scary.
It's interesting how bullying works, and what people think about it. That it's small kids or fat kids or gay kids or minority kids who get all the bullying. I was a fat kid who got bullied when I was younger, I mean badly. But I lost weight and the bullying stopped. Then, I got bullied for being smart and winning awards.
Why do I bring this up? Because it's happening again. Not to me, but someone close to me. They're being bullied because they're so good at something that it makes people jealous. This person has had this happen to them almost their entire life, at different times.
Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous? Like me, they didn't flaunt their talents or abilities, but they did put them on display. And most of the reaction has been positive. But some has been negative, angry, jealousy. I can't be as good as you, so I'm going to tear you down. Disgusting.
But we see this all the time, don't we? We hate pro athletes, pop singers, movie stars because we can't be them. How dare they get rich? Or famous? Or popular? Don't they know what we need? They don't deserve that fame, that money. Equally disgusting.
Here's what I would tell my friend, who would be very embarrassed if I mentioned their name: don't let the bastards get you down. They are self-hating, miserable people who will never amount to anything. They have no/limited talent or ability, or they don't have as much talent in a particular thing as you do. So instead of making themselves better, they choose to tear you down, thinking that it will hurt your feelings or make you stop doing a thing that makes you great.
How do you avoid them? You can't. They are literally everywhere, like dust mites.
How do you combat them? By continuing to do your great thing better and better, so much better that the bastards disappear from your view completely. And by ignoring them; they hate to be ignored. Hurting you is really all that they have.
It's hard, especially if you're young and sensitive, like my friend. But once you start not paying attention to them and just doing your thing for your own pleasure, you soar. So high that no one can ever bring you down.
Last three days runs: Saturday - 1.03 miles, Sunday - 1.02 miles, Monday - 2.96 miles, all verified by Nike + running app.
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