Haters Gonna Hate

There is always that one kid on the playground who likes to throw rocks at you as you're trying to make it across the monkey bars. They hit you in your weak spot to see if you fall, and they laugh as you squirm. And I hate to tell you, but the bully is still there when you grow up. The more you speak up for yourself or others, the faster they come running, using words instead of stones to wound you and make you afraid to be loud. If you stop, they feel like they won, and if you keep going, more of them come out of their dark, sad, little caves where they plot their hateful, grammatically incorrect comments behind a faceless username online. But suddenly, when all hope seems lost, someone who badly needs to hear you yell what you're shouting from the rooftops says, "I needed that," and in that instant, it's all worth it. So you keep going and tell the haters to go find a hobby because kicking them might result in jail time.

I wish I could say that this is the end and all the nice people live happily ever after, but this cycle will repeat itself in your lifetime over and over and OVER again. Everywhere you go, when you try to achieve something, people will intentionally try to stand in your way. They want to slow you down. Some do it for fun, others for jealousy, and some people don't understand you and never will. That's ok because I like a challenge. I told a doctor to cut off my leg because I refused to let cancer end my life. I won't be brought down by someone who doesn't like me and has too much time and a keyboard.

The next time you deal with a hater, remember the bully from the monkey bars. They were too scared to try and make it all the way across on their own, so they stood on the sidelines and threw rocks. You are the brave one. You climbed up there and put one hand in front of the other. You knew you could fall, but you didn't look down. So stop looking down; you're not going that way.