“Good business people are tough to bruise and fast to heal” delivers a clear, concise, and correct message.
When you were a child and learning to ride a bicycle, it wasn’t a matter of if you were going to fall, it was a matter of when. After your spill, you would pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and do it again. Usually with parental encouragement.
Yes, you skinned your knee, but you’re not going to learn to ride the bike if you stop after your first spill. As time went on, you fell less, and you rode that bike faster and better.
If you’re in business, you can’t waste time shutting down after setbacks. You need to step it up and move forward. The same is true in so many other endeavors. You’re going to fail. You’re going to do it again, and it’s going to be better. If you’re really good, you do it until you get it right. That’s called success.
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‘Whatever happened to “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”?’
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So many things that you can do that make a difference requires you to put yourself out there and get ready for the baseless insults and untruths put forward by one of so many internet trolls. We learn to handle this as adults. We know who we are and are not going to hurt ourselves over something that a gutless dolt typed on a keyboard from his parents’ basement.
I’m a digital tourist. I learned how to deal with people and situations in real life, face-to-face and directly. The digital thing came along much later with the social media tsunami not coming ashore until I was the best part of 50 years old.
Today’s “digital natives” are quite literally born looking at a screen. It’s becoming a larger part of their life, is very influential, and I’m not certain that it’s good thing – especially when they are in their formative years and just developing their self-image.
I was recently exposed to a couple of transcripts of “cyberbullying” that occurred among 8th and 9th-grade students. The things that were said were completely unacceptable and hurtful. They skipped over insults and went straight to hurtful. I can imagine that a child going through a rough time could harm themselves after being on the receiving end of the trolls’ idiocy.
They were statements that were designed to hurt and insult and conveyed no value, and you know that the cretin flinging these insults is likely doing so without any parental guidance and no concern for how their insults are received. They are small enough to believe that sharp comments make them a bigger boy or a girlier girl.
They are in for a rude awakening when they find it’s not the case.
It makes me very happy with how my daughter is handling my granddaughter’s exposure to social media. Eighth grade and it’s forbidden. Some Instagram scrolling is permitted, but it’s not going to deep-six her self-worth or esteem. At some point, she’s going to have full access to whatever flavor of social media is the “happening thing” for teenagers in a couple of years.
I know it will be a big topic of discussion, and yes, I’ll be looking over my granddaughter’s shoulder as long as I can … and I will offer my influence when possible.
But I’m not worried about my granddaughter, but instead I’m worried about the poorly parented parasites that she will encounter. You know, the children who never learned to communicate in polite society and whose parents are functionally absent.
Unfortunately, often the parents have exactly the same kind of societal failure.
Internet trolls are, unfortunately, common. They are quick to make up complete fabrications and publish them everywhere so they can attack prominent people so they can gain as much attention to themselves as possible. A troll’s insults are often vile so they can provoke reactions not only from the attacked individuals, but from others in their respective communities.
Those trolls, though, usually get what they deserve because, while so many look the other way, some don’t. Some, in fact, do something about it.
One thing is for sure – we should not expose our children and grandchildren to this level of vitriol, and the parents who allow their children to be the despicable miscreants that cyber bully should be held accountable by society.
I know they won’t be.
Whatever happened to “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”?
Listen, I’m tough enough to take it for me and mine, and I’m tough to bruise and fast to heal. That’s why I put myself out there and do things for the organizations and communities that are important to me.
But that’s not the same for everyone.
How many are not contributing their talents because of the bad actors? Are we missing people’s upsides because of a few insecure bad actors?
