Why Insults Are Meaningless
I remember when I was in primary school, I used to get so upset when the kids used to tease me about being smart. Of course, I did fit the nerd description entirely. I got 100% on all my tests, used by library card more frequently than anything in my wallet and.. heaven forbid, actually did my homework. I remember one day coming back home and shouting at my mother: “I want to be like the other kids! I hate being smart! I hate it!” I just wanted to fit in with people who were quite worthless, in retrospect.
I could have chosen to purposely not study and actually build myself some sort of social reputation, but for some reason I decided I wouldn’t, and I’m glad I didn’t. Even three years on, the differences in my life and my former classmates lives are significant. I moved on to one of the top schools in the state, whilst they’ve in turn become victims of peer pressure themselves and are now decked out in piercings and black, complaining about their lives regularly on facebook and myspace. Sure, I get down sometimes, but now I am mostly a happy person.
By sticking with prioritising my studies, I’ve also been offered so many more opportunities. Two years ago, still a high school student, I travelled to China for two weeks. And now I have just been approved to go back for a month next year on a student exchange. I’m also currently applying for a $5000 scholarship to one of the nation’s top universities I have been shortlisted for.
I couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities my hard work has presented me. This is why whenever anyone insults me for my work, I’ve just learnt to ignore them. Am I really so far beneath the person who made the comment when I feel I’ve accomplished so much?
Nobody, including you, reader, should ever let these negative comments effect you. Instead, use them as constructive criticism. Whenever someone calls me a nerd, this only makes me more motivated to achieve great results and let the numbers do the talking when the time comes. If you’ve been insulted about your personality, well the insulter’s personality looks like it needs serious readjusting too. If it’s about looks, everybody has their strong and weak points. And what about the world’s top models, for example Gemma Ward? They became famous because of their unconvential beauty.
Generally, people are insulted because they’re different. But is this such a bad thing? We all have role models, but to we want to be carbon copies of another person in the hope that maybe they’ll leave you alone. I suppose the main thing we need is resilience. Life is an opportunity to show off your skills and positive points to your fullest ability, without regrets. Nobody should hold you back, and as all humans do, bullies make errors, most commonly in judging people.
x Gezza
Past or Future?
Welcome yourself to Gezza’s great debate of the night. Take a seat, won’t you? Honestly, when you look at the title of this post, I’d expect the average person to easily pick one of those words (no, not or you silly person) and say clearly which one was the most important. But I’m not sure sure which one is anymore.
- Past
Ew, it’s been and gone, who cares, right? But the way I see it, the past shapes who we are. How would you be acting right now if you hadn’t experienced certain events or learnt certain things in your past? The past is something for us to look back to and draw things out of, and improve ourselves about reflection. However, our past consists of memories which can make us smile and laugh, but also cry tears of anguish. And most likely, it’s the latter, as bad memories tend to stick with us.
- Future
The future gives us something to aspire and look up to, and it keeps us going when we’re feeling down. The question is, how do we make ourselves a good future? Our future is dependant on our past experiences, for example our future jobs require certain university degrees we gained a few years ago. The future brings surprises and the unknown, both good and bad, thus presenting us with success or failure.
- Decision time
We can let both the past or the future consume us, and each is equally as formidable. However, I’m going to go with future on this one. The future will inevitably become the past just as tomorrow will soon become yesterday, and even if you think the future will add to your own formidable past, you’ve got to give yourself something to live for. If we don’t give ourselves a future, doesn’t it mean our past experiences amount to nothing?
x Gezza
