Bitter or better

I was bullied horrifically throughout 5th and sixth grade. My best friend’s mother was a lunch lady at school. One day, the lunch lady decided she didn’t like me . She told her (only child) daughter to unfriend me and to have all the other girls in our clique unfriend me. Only one girl stood by me. My friend Anna. In sixth grade the school principal separated Anna and I because it wasn’t fair to Anna to have to constantly defend me. Without any friends and without Anna, I was an easy target for the entire class. I was verbally abused by the girls and physically abused by a boy who felt he could beat me up everyday and get away with it because I was a nothing. I’m a grandmother now, and I have a good life, but I’ve struggled with low self esteem for 40 years as a result of the bullying I received in sixth grade. There was NO bullying awareness 40 years ago, my parents called the school constantly in vain. The principal blamed me . Here’s what I wish I knew back in the day:
-you are not what has happened to you, you choose who you want to become
– doubt behave or become a victim, you’re a survivor, this is just something that happened to you
-you have a choice to become bitter or better ( I chose the latter)
– you’re not the only one, bullying happens to millions of children and adults all over the world
– ITS NOT YOUR FAULT, you will overcome this
– if you hate them back, they’ve won
Forgive ( for your sake, mot the bully’s sake)