The lesson of the following story applies so well to the girls that I work with and the issue of bullying.
You have $86,400 in your account and someone stole $10 from you; would you be so upset with them that you’d be willing to throw all of the $86,400 away in hopes of getting back at the person who took your $10? Or move on and live? Right, you’d move on and live. See, we have 86,400 seconds in every day, so don’t let someone’s negative 10 seconds ruin the rest of the 86,390. Don’t sweat the small stuff; life is bigger than that. Author unknown
Preadolescent and adolescent girls often give their power away by letting other people’s words and actions negatively affect them. They feel hurt when someone teases them or they hear rumors about them. Girls then tend to ruminate and blow it out of proportion: “No one likes me, I have no friends, I’m alone.” They then think about it all day and night, creating a ton of angst that is far worse than the actual event.
Encourage your daughter to embrace the lesson above. Do they really want to waste 86,390 seconds of their day because of 10 seconds of someone being stupid? Do they really want to give someone that much power over their mood and emotions? Help girls become aware of the cost to them when they allow other people to dictate how their day goes. Urge them to be in charge of their feelings and reactions to the words and actions of other people. Girls become so emboldened and confident when they take these lessons to heart. Don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t take to heart the mischief of insecure, disrespectful peers.