We have all been bullied. We have had the things that we are most insecure about picked apart, and used as weapons against us to tear us down. We choose to rise above.

Maybe you’ve been picked on for something to do with your appearance, slightly crooked teeth, glasses, acne prone skin. Maybe you’ve been picked on for the things that you are good and bad at, bullied for being too good at academia, and not good enough at sports. Maybe you’ve had nasty comments because of your gender, race, or disability. It happens to all of us. At some point we have all been degraded.

This happened to me not very long ago, and many times throughout my life, both in school and out. Recently, I was sent a random message, apparently an inside joke between this person and a few of his friends. This message was an insult about my disability.

Being degraded hurts. It’s designed to make you feel like dirt, to kick you down and not let you back up again. There aren’t many people who are immune. We feel because we are human, when someone says something horrible, we are wounded by it.

I say all of this not to bring anybody down, or to threaten them with the imminence of another insult, but to talk about handling this part of life. Rise above.

My philosophy is self love in the face of adversity. There will people who do not like us, who do not love us, and who will do everything within their power to tear us down. We have two options when this happens. We could let them, which nearly all of us do when we are first upset, and is only human to do. We rage, cry, and get upset over what has happened to us. Our second option is to rise. It is the option that is harder to choose, but better to live.

Rise by deciding, after that initial upset (which you are more than entitled to), that you are above this treatment, you are better than it, and you do not need to stoop to its level. Rise by educating, especially when the nasty comment has been ill-informed, or is discrimination of some kind that you have been given the opportunity to spread awareness of. Rise by knowing that regardless of the people who do not like you, your most important fan is yourself, and you are entitled to like yourself when others do too, and when they do not, and your love for you is a constant that you have power and control over.

You are not the first, or the last person who has been, or will be, picked on. You are not the first person who has been upset by it, but look to role models, motivational speakers (Lizzie Velasquez is a good one to listen to), and see how they have risen above. See how they still love themselves. See the amazing lives they are living, and the incredible things they are doing. See how they are not any of the things that their bullies thought of them, because they are so very much more.

Rise, and love yourself, because you are worth it, and no comment from anybody else will ever have the power to take that worth away from you.