No, I’m not talking about the nice, Hollywood vampires like in Twilight.
And I am not talking about people with fangs instead of teeth who cannot be photographed or come into contact with sunlight. I am talking about the real life vampires; these vampires don’t suck other people’s blood. These vampires bring about more pain than they could ever imagine. These vampires have made lives miserable, and in the worst of cases, have led people to end their life. These vampires suck the Optimism out of people.
Anyone can be an optimism vampire: your peers, your coworker, your boss, your parents, and your siblings. And such a vampire can affect anyone. Have you ever felt like someone just wanted you to be miserable? They continuously look down upon you, degrade you, hurt you in more ways than one, and no matter what, they won’t stop bothering you. In other words, optimism vampires are bullies. Bullies who have such a painful life at home that they decide to take it out on someone else. They seem to look for the most innocent person with low self-esteem. And then they pounce. They do all they can to hurt you so that they themselves can feel better and avoid their reality. And yes, I’ve heard it said many times that it is not the fault of a bully; that they are victimized too. I just cannot even grasp how someone could be at such a low point that they decide to harm another.
Nor do I want the bullies out there to ever feel good about what they have done. If a bully ever saw with their own eyes what affect they have on the innocent person they chose to bully day after day, I highly doubt they would ever pick on someone again. The problem is, most bullies do not notice the consequences of their actions. They don’t notice that their victim has cried every day for the past month. They don’t notice that their victim has stopped eating entirely and has become just skin and bones. Optimism vampires do not acknowledge their actions having any consequences. That is, until the person they brutalized the entire year decides to take their own life. Then they finally get closer to coming to terms with what they have done. But I believe, and I am certain you would believe, that point is too late. An innocent life has been lost; nothing can ever fix that and make that better. Sorry will not ever cut it, not in a million years.
With such a threat to Optimism, I am against bullying in any way, shape, or form.
I know that this is a harsh subject to talk about on a normally happy and motivating blog, but it has to be talked about. There has to be a change; there has to be a way to eradicate the optimism vampires once and for all. So here is a story about my friend who was bullied most of her young life. Please share it and help me spread it as far as possible. I warn you, it is not an easy story to read. It is a story that must be told though. For her sake. For your sake. For my sake. For the sake of all who have been bullied in their life.
She loved music. It made her smile on a bad day. It made every day just a little bit better. This was before music would be what saved her life. Before the bullies and the pain and the agony of going to school. She was happy then. She was like all of us, just wanting to follow her dreams, get good grades, and make new friends. When I first started chatting her on Facebook, she was a kind, bubbly person who was the #1 fan of my blog and of optimism. What I did not know was that she was being bullied. Every part of her was being vocally and emotionally attacked. Her weight. Her personality. Her attitude. Her whole way of life. She was also an amazing artist, and even her artistic gift was attacked for no good reason. Optimism and music were the best defense she had against these monsters. Her self-esteem and self-worth could hardly stand up to the constant battering of her peers. Like any of us would be, she was put past her breaking point and beaten down to almost nothing. But she was still strong, as strong as she could ever be.
In the end though, the bullies were no match for her.
Their words and abuse turned into cuts on the wrist and starvation. She would cut herself to attempt to escape the pain that she lived in day after day. Those scars won’t ever fully heal. She would stop eating in order to feel better about herself and not hear the constant voices shouting in her head about how “fat” and “ugly” she was. But she was far from either of those things; her weight was fine and she was a beautiful person. Without anyone to tell her that, how would she ever know it were true? I’ve told her, and so have those closest to her. After a while, though, what the bullies say seems more like the truth.
If all of this were not enough on its own, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. A disorder where one day may be amazing, but the next may be suicidal. She showed all the signs, but she tried so hard to keep it hidden. I can’t directly link her disorder with all the bullying she went through, but I can guarantee it had quite an impact on it. The month that followed her diagnosis was rough, so rough in fact that she is still trying to recover from it to this day. During that month, she would sometimes hold a knife to her throat and threaten to kill herself. She would cut herself so often that the scars were impossible to hide anymore. Her boyfriend has had to save her from the brink more than once. He was there when she cut herself so badly that she was found unconscious in a puddle of her own blood. He saved her that day; even the doctors said she would not have survived if he had not been there.
So she went to treatment again, which would be the second time that month. She needed help. And right now she is in the treatment center, getting that help. And she won’t be going home until they know for sure she will be able to handle it. She has a long road ahead of her, but she is going to make it out of this. I know in my heart she will…
Now it is time for the end of the bullying, and the end of the pain that comes with it.
Too many innocent people are pushed so far that they have the scars to prove it. Too many victims. Too many scars. I believe it is time for the end of the era of the optimism vampires, before it is too late! My friend has hope, albeit only a glimmer of it right now. She is going to make it out of this and be stronger than ever before. So many of those who are bullied do not have even a glimmer of hope to rest on. They can see no other choice. So this post is for them. This post is for all those who have been a victim. This post is a reality wake up call for any bully or optimism vampire out there to stop their abuse and be part of the solution, not the problem. Don’t think I will ever forgive the bullies, but that doesn’t mean they can’t change. The bullies will always have the pain of their past to deal with when they finally decide to grow up and face reality.
Most importantly, this post is for the girl who loves music. It made her smile on a bad day. It made every day just a little bit better.
And this is when the music will save her life…
