Channing Tatum said so...

One of my favourite films of 2012 was "21 Jump Street".  Aside from some eye candy (hello Channing Tatum) and lots of laughs, the film has a strong underlying message which is to promote that it's "cool" to care about other people, the environment and humanity in general.  I don't know why it was ever "cool" to pick on people, but I'm glad that fad has faded and since high school I think most us have grown out of trying to be "cool".  I've definitely noticed positive changes in society in this direction, but sometimes it still seems more acceptable or more common to put someone down or bitch about them than it is to give them a compliment.  I'm sure you agree that this doesn't seem quite right.  With all the awareness and rallying against bullies in the school yard, why do some adults think it's okay for them to bully other adults?  Is it a lack of education, lack of awareness or are we too afraid that we will be outcast if we don't instigate it or join in?  

Two well known sayings come to mind "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all" and "Treat others the way you want to be treated".  If we are living by the latter then there seem to be quite a few of us who want to be bitched about, spoken to like we are stupid and put down.  Every time we say something negative about someone else we are making ourselves transparent because all it does is show our own insecurities.  If our boss calls us stupid, a friend calls us weak or a family member calls us lazy, they are rejecting unwanted behaviour in themselves.  We had the perfect response when we were kids "I know you are, you said you are, so what am I?".  It's probably not a very helpful response outside of the playground, but we can see clearly that when others taunt, tease or put us down that it's really about them, so it's not personal and we don't need to take it on.  "Bullies" are not bad people, they are merely misguided and when we respond with unwaivering kindness we have a chance at helping them curb their damaging behaviour patterns.  Strength is not measured by force or aggression, but by tenderness and love. 

We've all done it.  Aside from maybe the Dalai Lama the rest of us mortals are bound to let a neg slide here and there, heck there are dating books that encourage putting others down!  What we really have to ask is what does it say about us when we criticise others?  Does it make us feel better about ourselves?  On the surface it may appear to, but all it does is inflate the falsity of the ego and subconsciously it makes us feel worse.  When we voice more of our positive, kind thoughts and refuse to say negative things about others, we find that a gesture as simple as a compliment not only makes others smile, but it makes us feel good too.  When we come together with love and compassion we conquer bullying behaviour and it creates a pattern where "bullies" are the ones who are having to sacrifice their beliefs and they must be kind in order to fit into society rather than the other way around.  We are not in competition with each other, we are here to help each other and when we live in harmony we live longer, happier, more fulfilling lives.  Hey, if Channing Tatum said so...

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