My neighbor has a terminal illness which is causing his body to break down and get weaker with each passing day. Today I watched as a thought popped into his head and sent him racing through his apartment looking for something. When his body failed to keep up he retreated to his sofa, seeking comfort in fast-acting painkillers. Can I see where this happens to me psychologically? My mind whispers some discontent — “She shouldn’t have been late” — and then off I go racing around for evidence to support the claim and build a case, getting angry, resentful, indignant. And when the pressure gets to be too great, my mind then seeks release and relief through making a plan for how to fix things — fire off an angry email, complain to others.
This is what it means to be bullied by one’s own mind. To stand up to the bully is to come to an interior stop so that you can actually meet the bully face-to-face. When you stand your ground, you’ll clearly see what the bully is desperately hiding — fear. Fear of failure, fear of losing respect, fear of losing control. By standing up to the bully you uncover the fear you’ve been avoiding. The more you see your fears, the less power they have over you.