SELF BULLYING(TM)


IS BEING MEAN TO YOURSELF


 

Have you ever negatively judged yourself?

Ever stand in front of a mirror and called yourself stupid or ugly? Ever compare yourself to others?

 
 YOU KNOW HOW BAD IT FEELS WHEN ANOTHER PERSON NEGATIVELY JUDGES YOU. It's awful. Right? How does your negative self-judgment make you feel?  Each time you call yourself stupid, ugly, not good enough, etc., you are taking positive energy away from yourself.

 

 

OBSERVE YOUR FEELINGS


Make a list of all the people who have negatively judged you. What negative thing did they call you? Quite often the negative messages we give ourselves are not our own. Most of the negative judgments we have about ourselves come from somebody else ... a friend, family member, etc. It is human nature to actually believe the judgments of others and take them on as our own. It is YOUR JOB TO RECOGNIZE that someone else's negative judgment of you is NOT WHO YOU ARE. Has anyone ever called you a name and then you start calling yourself that name over and over and over in your head?

 

DEFEND YOURSELF!!!


If a person called one of your friends "ugly" or "stupid" you would defend them, right?
That's what you should do for yourself whenever you have a negative self-judgment.

How many times have you told your body that you hated it?

 I HATE MY HAIR!

I HATE MY NOSE!

I HATE MY BUTT!

I HATE MY THIGHS!

Did you know YOUR BODY HAS FEELINGS TOO? Lots of time we treat our friends better than we treat ourselves. THAT'S SO WRONG! Award winning recording artist, PINK, was obsessing about her thighs until the day she visited children in a hospital and saw kids with no legs.

Our bodies help us all of the time. It is constantly there for us and we sometimes treat it worse than we would treat a stranger on the street. We call various parts mean names, we eat the wrong foods, we drink the wrong stuff you know the drill.

TWO ASSIGNMENTS FOR YOU:

1.  Email us a list of 10 ways most people treat their bodies badly.

2.  Email us a list of 20 wonderful things your body does for you.
 

Email your lists to: HeyUGLY@heyugly.org with "Self Bullying" in the subject line.


HOW TO CANCEL OUT

ALL THE NEGATIVE JUDGMENTS


Take your index finger and press it to your thumb like you were squishing a piece of dirt between those fingers. Now, each time you make a negative judgment about others or yourself, press those fingers together and squish out that negativity. Immediately replace the negative judgment with a positive statement. The more you do this the easier it will be to not make negative judgments at all. It's kinda like exercising or learning a musical instrument. The more your practice the easier it gets. So practice, practice, practice.

RECALL A NEGATIVE JUDGMENT YOU HAD ABOUT YOURSELF and squish that negative thought between your fingers. Close your eyes and picture your inner-self. Make a sincere apology to yourself then give your inner-self a compliment. How did you feel giving yourself a compliment? On a piece of paper make a list of the things you like about yourself and read it every night before you go to bed.

GRATITUDE - Make a list of five things you are grateful for each night before you go to bed. It can be as simple as having fingers that allow you to use a spoon to help you eat your cereal to has major as having legs that help you walk. Just make sure you list at least five things.

The next time you have a negative judgment about yourself or someone else just STOP. Don t negatively judge yourself for having a negative judgment, just recognize it, squish it out and replace it with something positive.

To help keep other peoples' negative judgments and thoughts from affecting you, pretend you have a zipper on your body (like a zipper on a Hoodie). Now ZIP YOURSELF UP all the way to your mouth. Imagine you now have a protective shield around you that will not allow anyone's negative thoughts and judgments to penetrate. Pretend there is a lock at the top of the zipper. Give it a quick turn to lock in your protection. You may want to do this before you go into the mall.

QUESTION: Where are some other places where zipping up your shield would be a good idea? Email your answers to us with "Zip it up" in the subject line.
 

Become a part of Hey U G L Y's Stop Bullying Task Force by completing our Stop Bullying Handbook. Click on the book to go to our products page. This book is designed just for you and your friends.



Read all about how we took on bullying in this
 front page story in NWI Catholic Newspaper.