I was a person who was an easy target for those nasty bullies. I had a speech impediment known as a stutter or a stammer. Despite attending different forms of stuttering therapy I was only able to achieve fluency when I was in my twenties.
I was rather an obese child and was a lot shorter than most of my friends.
I had hoped that people who I would meet at work would be rather more mature than these school kids – they are adults after all. How wrong could I have been?
There was one main bully who made my life hell, his name was Gary. Gary constantly took the mickey out of myself and would mimmick my stuttering at regular intervals. I tried to not let it bother me, but it did. I let this continue for nearly year and by now I was feeling very depressed and was ready to quit.
I then read a book about the subject of bullying and it wrote about something which they called, playing the nutter card. Basically at for example work, you can be who you want to be. Nutters come in all shapes and sizes and if you threaten the bully in a strong enough and convincing manner, they will normally back off, as most bullies are cowards.
I decided to be brave and give it a go. Trying to fight back in a physical manner was not really an option due to the fact that Gary was probably twice the size of me. He does not know the people in my circle of friends though, I needed to convince him that they could.
On the day when I actually went for it, it had not been planned. I will have to admit that despite really wanting to do this I did not feel that I would have the courage. This day the bullying was very distressing and was in very bad taste. I was really mad and clocked out of work and went to wait by Gary’s car, but hidden behind a tree.
Gary eventually approached his car and went to unlock the door, as he did I jumped on his back but quickly fell off. He turned round with a shocked look on his face, however was happy when he saw that it was me. I started swearing at him and told him that I had had enough. I informed him that a number of my friends are a bit tapped in the head, but that they would do anything to help me. If I told them the abuse he was giving me, they would not be best pleased and would basically beat him to a pulp. I told him that if I ever heard him bad mouthing me again, whether it was directly to my face or behind my back – then I would let them know – he would then have to await his punishment to happen. I then ran off shaking.
The next day I went to work in a nervous state, I am happy to report he fell for the bait and was as good as gold after that.
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I am a person who has seemingly always been over-weight. Being over-weight affected my whole life, I was unable to wear the clothes I wanted to and I often felt guilty after eating certain foods. In my opinion I felt sure that I would be a much happier person if only I could attain what I considered my ideal weight.
I guess that I had problems with my weight mainly due to comfort eating – I was quite a depressive person you see due to the fact that I had a stuttering speech impediment.
One day I was talking to a neighbour who was not only very nice but also quite thin. She was the picture of good health and rather fit; I asked her how she managed to keep so fit.
This neighbour who is called Gillian seemed quite taken aback and even flattered by my question and went quite coy. She stated that at one point in her life, she had also had a weight problem and had not been happy about it. What she was about to say was quite a shock to me, however would eventually change my life.
She went on to say that wherever she went to at this stage of her life, she would travel to by car. She then went out and bought a dog and would take this pet for a walk at least twice a day. In the past Gillian had not wanted to do any form of keep fit however she was now taking her lovely dog on numerous walks each day and enjoying them.
Gillian quickly noticed that not only was she losing weight but that she also felt a lot healthier. She soon reached her favoured weight.
After listening to Gillian’s story I decided to follow her weight loss program. Yes I went and bought a dog and am happy to report that it has also worked for me.
I am now a far more content and confident person. This has helped me to have a successful career selling composite doors for a local composite door company. I also have a little part-time role working providing a DVD duplication service as well as offering flyer printing.
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