Have you ever encountered a bully before? For whatever reason, this person just seems like their main goal in life is to wreak havoc on you. They may have teased you mercilessly or perhaps they even hurt you physically, but whatever way they decided to inflict their pain upon you, it wasn’t fun. And if you were lucky enough to never encounter a bully in real life, then you are probably still familiar with them because of TV and movies. Growing up, you most likely watched at least one show or saw at least one movie that had a bully in it. The media wants to appeal to its audience, so they make the things that they put out relatable. They know that young kids will encounter bullies, so they put them on TV and on the big screen. And if you ever saw these people being depicted on screen then you know that they were always mean to their target(s).

These shows and movies make you hate the bullies for beating up on the protagonist. They start to appear as less than human to you because these people are insanely mean. But the thing is, they are still human, and because they’re human, they go through human problems. Many times these people aren’t just being mean for the sake of it. There’s something that’s going on in their life that’s causing them to lash out at someone else. Maybe they come from an abusive household. Or perhaps they are neglected at home. Or they might have someone close to them who is dying. It doesn’t really matter what the reason is. At the end of the day, these people are just hurting other people because they, themselves, are hurting and they don’t know how to deal with that pain. And when you find out this part, this ultimately ends up humanizing them.

However, you don’t have to be a bully to be going through something tough. Life is full of troubles and because of this everybody experiences them from time to time. And some people know how to deal with their issues better than others, but even if someone is putting forth a good face it doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t going through something difficult.

So problems keep coming. You can’t avoid them. I’d even be willing to bet that you’re going through something right now. And because you know what it’s like to go through pain and heartache, you should be aware that other people go through it too. You may have put on a brave face and acted like there was nothing wrong, but deep down inside you knew that the slightest thing could set you off. You may not have wanted anybody to know, but you also didn’t want other people treating you horribly because you were already barely keeping it together as it was. The same thing goes for when other people are going through hard times. They probably don’t want everyone to know about their difficulties, but just because they’re keeping their problems a secret doesn’t mean that they want added stress in their lives by having to deal with people who are going to put them in a worse mood.

Positive thinker, you should always treat people with respect. You don’t know what another person is going through, but if you make an effort to treat them with common decency then at least you will be able to say that you didn’t add to their heartache. If you ever find yourself in a position where you want to be mean or nasty towards someone just remember that they are quite possibly going through something. And if you continue on with malicious intentions then you just might end up making their day that much worse. Just think about it. If you wouldn’t want someone else to treat you that way when you are going through hard times then it shouldn’t be something that you should want to do to someone else. It’s a simple rule that you were probably taught as a child, but it still rings true today. Just because you’re older now, doesn’t mean that you should forget the lessons you were taught as a kid. Having respect for others is one of those lessons that you should never forget. Remember it always positive thinker. It will help you to be a better person!