Is it...
A. The biggest, baddest football player on the team?
B. The school bully?
C. Some boy who eats glass for lunch?
D. The outsider; the kids in your school
no one else talks to or wants to
be seen with.The answer is D.
The toughest person in your school
is the person other people perceive to
be the weakest.They are the people who hang out
on the fringes of acceptance, but never
seem to be able to cross the line.They are the ones who get
put down by others,
get picked on by bullies
and
are ignored by all those who think
they are “too good”
to associate or be seen with
someone who is
“ not their equal.”What makes these people so tough?
To answer this question you only
have to put yourself in their position.If, throughout the school day, you
get picked on by bullies,
put down by “wanna-be’s”
and
are ignored by everyone else;wouldn’t you have to be a
pretty tough person to handle all
of this and still keep an heir of
self respect about you?To be sure, it’s something the
name callers, the bully,
and the conceited person
would all have a hard time doing.My advice to the “outsider” is simple;
Hang in there.
You’d be smart not to let
other people change you
from being who you are
to the kind of person
THEY expect you to be.Fact is,
sooner or later someone is bound to
realize that there’s a lot more
to you than just “the label”
other people put on you.If it hasn’t happened already,
it surely will.
(Write me and I’ll tell you why)One of the best kept secrets
in the world is just how tough
the so called loner
or
“ outsider” really is.Well, it’s no secret anymore.
THE UNDERTAKER
I took a group of kids to watch a professional wrestling match at the invitation of a friend who is the manager of the arena where the match took place.
Toward the end of the match, my friend asked me if I wanted to take the kids to meet one of the wrestlers. I asked the kids and without
hesitation they all enthusiastically said “yes.”It was then that we were all taken down to an empty room to wait for a wrestler named THE UNDERTAKER.
Also waiting in the room was a sickly, skinny, frail looking nine year old boy sitting in a wheelchair with his mother standing by his side.
Before long, this giant of a man appeared in the doorway. It was THE UNDERTAKER. He was ugly and he was big. In fact, he was so big that
he had to duck to get through the frame of the door.Shortly after he entered the room, THE UNDERTAKER spotted the little boy in the wheelchair and slowly walked over to him.
The poor boy was so intimidated by this huge man that he began to physically shake as the wrestler came closer to him.
You could have heard a pin drop in that room as THE UNDERTAKER approached the wheelchair. Everyone was waiting to see what this wrestler was going to do.
Knowing that this man made his money by projecting a fierce image, I think everyone was waiting to be entertained by him.
I’m sure the kids who were with me were all expecting him to speak to the boy in an intimidating voice. Something like,
“I AM THE UNDERTAKER AND I WILL DROP-KICK YOU IF YOU MESS WITH ME!!!”
If he did this, everyone would have understood that this was the role he played and no one would have thought twice about it.
No one expect the little boy in the wheelchair.
Had THE UNDERTAKER done such a thing, there’s no telling how this frightened, sickly child would have reacted.
However, THE UNDERTAKER did not do this.
Instead, he knelt down on one knee next to the boy, put his arm around him, snapped his fingers and had his manager bring over an UNDERTAKER t-shirt.
THE UNDERTAKER took the t-shirt, gently laid in on the boy’s chest, patted it down to smooth out any wrinkles and then patiently waited for him to react.
The boy, however, could not stop shaking and soon the shirt folded from his chest down to his knees. The wrestler-contrary to his image-patiently and gently picked up the shirt, put it on the boy’s chest, patted in down and once again waited for the boy to react.
Eventually, the little boy began to respond. He looked down at the t-shirt and then very slowly-almost reluctantly-turned his head to look
at THE UNDERTAKER. With some hesitation at first, the boy forced a smile as his body gradually stopped shaking.THE UNDERTAKER, sensing the time was right, gently pulled the little boy toward him and gave him a hug.
The boy was in heaven. It had to be the most exciting thing that ever happened to him. He was resting his head on his hero’s chest. Man,
things couldn’t get any better than that for the little boy.
The point of this true story is simple:
The hero in the room that day was not a professional wrestler.
The hero in that room was the man behind the wrestler.
Here’s a man who could have easily put on a show by intimidating the little boy. Like I said, no one would have thought twice about it.
Instead, THE UNDERTAKER chose to
RESPECT and EMBRACE the boy.This story reminds me of some of the people in your school. The true heroes in your school are not necessarily the athletes or most popular kids.
Fact is the true heroes in your school are the people who respect those who everyone else disrespects.
Why are they heroes?
Because in the process of respecting those who are being disrespected they realize that they may be criticized for it yet they still go ahead and do it anyway.
And anytime someone risks their life or reputation to benefit others, that person is a hero.
THE UNDERTAKER knew that if he stepped out of character he would be criticized for it and even tarnish his image. But yet he still went ahead and did it anyway just to benefit the little boy.
THE UNDERTAKER earned more respect from the people in that room that day than he could have earned wrestling in the ring.
He certainly earned mine, and I don’t even watch wrestling.
FINAL THOUGHT
Now a days it seems as though athletes rule when it comes to defining who a hero is. I guess there is nothing wrong with that. However,
understand this:A person who is a hero because of his or her athletic ability usually effects others for as long as the athletic ability lasts.
A person, like those who risk their reputation to benefit others, are heroes to that person for a lifetime.
A MESSAGE FOR THE BULLIES OUT THERE
There’s an old saying that goes like this...
“THOSE WHO BULLY THE WEAK
ARE WEAK
BEFORE THE STRONG”When the day comes in which you, the bully, are standing in front of
the “strong,”I hope “the strong” you’re standing in front of
will have compassion,
not contempt,
for you,
the weak.Just a thought.
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or
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In this web site, teenage issues and problems
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