Positive attitude helps with bullying

“Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron oars a cage.” Remember that? In the light of the attention being given to bullying, what does it mean?

I had polio when I was 6 and from then on I dragged my right foot when I ran. I got the name Jack, for jack rabbit, for the way I ran. I got called other names and things for which bullies get credit for now, but I refused to be a victim. I thought bullies really meant to be friends, so I tried to be friends to them. I laughed when they laughed and cheered when they won. I treated them like a friend and soon we were friends. That approach worked through high school and after.

Today, I am going on 95 and do not have a bullying person in my life. Of course, I have outlived most of my detractors, but I entertain positive thoughts about all the people in my life who have bullied me.

Attitude is everything. Every bully is given life in the image of God much the same as the bullied. We each build the walls of our own prisons and most all the bars of our own cages. A free man must be free in his own mind. Again, attitude is everything.

For those who like to see rules made and laws passed, every rule made and every law passed takes away the liberty from each of us. We live in a very closed community. What affects our neighbor affects us.

Frederick

Steinbron

Jesup