Dear Intimidator,

Yes, you! You may not feel like this letter is addressed to you but you're wrong. You may not see it the way I see it. You may not even think you did anything wrong. You’re probably reading this because you yourself have felt bullied. Whatever the reason, I am not writing because I feel I deserve an apology. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t appreciate or condone what you did, but I have moved on.

I have moved past the days you didn’t talk to me simply because you felt I talked too loud. I got over the days you didn’t want to be seen with me because I wasn’t wearing the newest fashion trend. You found every reason to hate me, it didn’t matter to you who I really was. It didn’t matter to you that I was nothing but nice to you, I found no reason to hate you.

I wasted days of my life trying to understand why this was happening. But I came to realize that you have actually made me stronger. How, you ask?

Well, you have made me a better person, instead of falling to peer pressure I stood up for people like me, people who had a voice but were too afraid to use it. I, unlike you, became accepting of all people, learning to see the good in everyone, the good in you. I learned that going against the grain sometimes isn’t a bad thing.

Oddly enough you made me feel more comfortable in my skin! I started to tell myself, that I didn’t care what you thought, I didn’t care what you said to other people. Let them all think what they want, I am who I am, not what you try to make me.

So for all of this I thank you, I thank you for the days you didn’t talk to me, these gave me time to reflect on myself and find out who I was despite of you. I thank you for the days you talked about me to our other friends, you helped me realize who my real friends are, because I don’t need fake people in my life. I thank you for the days I spent talking to my mom about everything, because you gave us a stronger bond as mother and daughter. You brought me closer with people who will become my life-long friends. When one door closes another one opens, you closed a few doors to me but that opened a hall of doors in exchange.

I am not saying this made you a good person but your words and actions made me a better person, it has helped me adapt and grow and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. So for all of this I thank the one person in my life that tried to bring me down.

From,

The Stronger, Wiser Me