Stand Strong: You Can Overcome Bullying (and Other Stuff That Keeps You Down) Read Online Free PDF

step until you achieve them. Then celebrate that accomplishment. Reward yourself. Feel good about what you’ve done, and then set the bar a little higher and go after another goal.
    Once you’ve built up your self-confidence and expertise,don’t be afraid to set the bar higher and higher. I’ve done that for most of my life. Sometimes I’ve fallen flat on my face, quite literally. You won’t always succeed either, but as long as you keep stretching and reaching higher, you will create opportunities to succeed. The immediate goal is to make you bully proof, but your ability to deal with setbacks and challenges of any kind will only improve as you grow in self-confidence and self-love.
    Nick’s Notes for Chapter Two
    Once you know who you are and feel secure about yourself, no bully can make you feel insecure or steal your joy.
    You were created for a purpose, and that means you have value and a future of unlimited potential that you don’t want to miss.
    You grow stronger and more bully proof when you accept and love yourself, even as you work every day on being the best person you can possibly be.

Back in my early teen years I let bullies get to me in a big way. I allowed them to hurt me and make me feel worthless. I felt sorry for myself. My uncle John picked up on that and put a stop to my pity party then and there.
    “Nick, no one can ever change who you are,” he said. “You can cut out someone’s tongue, pluck out his eyes, and plug his ears so he can’t taste, see, or hear, but that still doesn’t change who that person is inside. No one can touch your spirit or your soul.”
    Thanks, Uncle John. I needed that!
    My uncle was telling me to take responsibility for my own happiness and my own self-esteem. I couldn’t stop bullies from picking on me. Most of the time you can’t either. But you can control whether you let them get to you by stepping up and deciding that no one can make you feel badly about yourself if you don’t let them.
    I encourage you to keep this phrase in your mind whenfaced with bullying:
You can say terrible things to me, but you can’t touch who I am inside. You can’t make me feel badly about myself. I know who I am, and I stand on my own
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    D O -I T -Y OURSELF H APPINESS
    You should consider your life a do-it-yourself project when it comes to creating your own happiness and self-esteem. Take responsibility for being the best person you can become. Make the most of your talents. Build on your strengths, and work on your weaknesses. Be humble, but love yourself, while always doing your best to develop your talents and pursue your purpose. When you generate that kind of positive energy, you attract supporters and discourage bullies from picking on you.
    Self-love and self-confidence come to you when you accept responsibility for your own happiness and success. I learned this as a child, but I had to remind myself of it time and again as challenges came my way. You may need to do the same. Think of yourself as your own coach in that regard. Remind yourself of past victories, and use them to build strength when faced with bullies and other challenges. Be grateful for the ability to control your responses to whatever life throws at you. It’s like a superpower that allows you to turn even bad things into learning experiences that can benefit you later in life.
    One thing I did not lack as a child was determination, andmy parents and siblings quickly decided the best option in most cases was to “let Nick do it for himself.” They did not coddle me, which I appreciate very much—at least now. There were times as a kid when I might have yearned to be spoiled rotten and treated like a prince, but my family made sure that didn’t happen. They didn’t cut me any slack because I lacked limbs.
    Even today, my parents are always supportive and encouraging, but they never allow me to wallow in self-pity or to hide from my responsibilities. As a boy, I did chores around the house just