You Don't Have To Put Others Down To Build Yourself Up | The Odyssey Online
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Health and Wellness

You Don't Have To Put Others Down To Build Yourself Up

In other words: leave other people tf alone.

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You Don't Have To Put Others Down To Build Yourself Up
Paramount

"Calling somebody else fat won't make you any skinnier. Calling someone stupid doesn't make you any smarter. And ruining Regina George's life definitely didn't make me any happier." – Ghandi (or Lindsay Lohan as Cady Heron written by Tina Fey)

You may think it's an exhausted topic, but we are STILL seeing too many instances of shaming one type of person in order to validate another. Especially in our media that reaches millions, if not billions, of consumers.

You don't have to refer to thin girls as "skinny b!#@?&s" (a la Nicki Minaj and Meghan Trainor) in order to make thick girls feel good about their bodies.

You don't have to call a guy a "juice head" to justify your untoned physique.

If you have an undying love for politics, power to ya! But don't look down on people who prefer to read People magazine over Forbes.

Once you find true comfort and security in your own interests/lifestyle, you'll realize the way other people live should not effect that comfort. Truthfully, if you really feel that strongly about how someone else is living, that's really just YOU projecting your insecurities onto them and pointing out their flaws to cover up your own.


No, you don't hate people who wear makeup. You hate yourself because you aren't confident like they are when they wear makeup. And the argument, "you don't need makeup to feel confident," is a load of crap. Everybody needs SOMETHING to feel confident – whether that be a good friend group, decent job, or religion. Many people just so happen to feel confident when they wear makeup. Good for them!

So go out there and find what makes you confident! Don't sit around complaining about people that have already found their something.

Sophomore year of college, my human development professor did a very helpful workshop in class one day. He told us to think of that one person in our life that we dislike for no reason. The one person that we side-eye without really knowing why. I thought of my classmate, Rebecca. When asked why I didn't like her, I reasoned that she was always overachieving, involving herself in multiple clubs, and outworking everyone in class. The professor then flipped the script. He explained that we always "dislike someone for no reason" because we project our own insecurities onto them and envy the way they operate. And that workshop changed my entire outlook on the people I dislike and Rebecca, whom I now consider a great friend and admire very much. By watching her, I learned how to dedicate myself to my craft and go for whatever goal I want to reach no matter how extraordinary.

So take this workshop and run with it. Maybe you call other people "bums" because you are tired of putting so much work into your appearance to fit a social construct. Maybe you call other people "uptight" because you're insecure about your recklessness. Just keep in mind that my putting others down (for reasons that don't directly affect or offend you), you are really labelling yourself as insecure.

Take time out of judging others to improve upon yourself. It won't happen overnight – in fact, you won't stop improving until the day you die. So take as long need to find your confidence, whatever it is.



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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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