Bonjour my email family! Hope you and your loved ones are keeping safe and happy.
Today, the topic I want us to talk about is a deeply personal but potentially cathartic one.
It is - What is the most traumatic yet growth triggering incident of your life? Let me go first.
In middle school, being a shy skinny-fat stuttering dude that sucked at sports, I was naturally the target of bullying. This got even worse after I started dating a girl (which happened due to mostly chance and not yours truly’s charms xD).
One day, walking back from school, the bullies are spit-roasting (no, not the sexual way thankfully) the victim bunch (My past self being at the forefront).
The barbs are sharp but as usual, I dodge them with weak replies and smiles. But one especially sharp one about my then-girlfriend makes my eyes burn with rage and I snap back with a vicious rejoinder.
He’s silent. I’m silent. Everyone is silent. And then, violently grabbing my collar, he smashes my brand new water bottle with all his might on the ground.
“Haaa, that should show you wuss., he shoves me to the ground and spits before leaving. As adults, things like water bottles might not matter much. But to a middle schooler? It can mean a lot.
That day, two things changed:
I had stood up to my bullies for the first time and this burst opened an internal flood gate - I had known victory, be it a second of silence.
What I had regarded as normal (me being bullied) possibly a lifelong thing had turned into an ephemeral one whose end wasn’t far away.
The bullying went on but neither did it affect me much nor did they breathe my girlfriend’s name again.
And soon, when high school started, I tried and fell in love with working out. This opened up the self-improvement world. And here we are today - the confident, successful, and strong adult wearing my skin is miles from the wimpy stuttering kid.
If not for that day, all this might quite possibly have never come to happen. Now, it’s your turn - eagerly waiting to hear your story.
I think for me it was when I stopped with my crush and started paying attention to prep.. didn't get her but at least got a good college and job :))