Do you want to be ridiculed?
Do you want someone around who’s easy to mock and laugh at?
Well, only you’d know.
No body wants to be ridiculed. But everybody wants this one person in the group they can all humiliate and joke about. And this one person will actually have the understanding and maturity to let go of all such trivialities. But in his/her absence, the pertinent discussion in the group will be how stupid and how low on self-respect this person is.
If you are that one person in any gathering, give people the grace and distance yourself. Remember, only hurt, deeply troubled people seek validation by humiliating and mocking others. This is not to say that’s a fixed personality trait and anyone is beyond change. However, it is important to accept that we cannot control when and how a person chooses to change their behaviour towards us.
And if your are not that person, atleast try to be the buffer. If you cannot verbalise contradiction because pleasing a certain group of people is way more important than facing yourself for whatever alleged compulsion in life, at least find the strength to stand up and walk away. The question here being: “Is tearing someone else down the only possible source of self-worth left in your life?” If that’s how it is, then it’s desperately sad, and I wish you healing. If not, then please be the one to break this bullying culture. Whether you are an ally to a bully or the bullied, save your peace, walk away.
Remember, we can all meet other people only as deeply and as honestly as we have met our own selves.