KidSpirit

Standing Strong

ResilienceGlobal Beat

There’s a quote by George S. Patton that goes, “I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs, but by how high he bounces when he hits bottom.” And I think that’s what being resilient is all about: getting up when you have been pushed to the ground, staying to fight in the war when you have lost each of your previous battles.

But it’s more than just that. Resilience is all the little things you do, such as talking back to a bully even if you know that you will pay for it, or even just mustering the courage to get up and go to school every day when that is the place you are teased for your insecurities. I never had it that bad, but I was taught to do this at a very early age by my mother.

When I was in fourth grade, there was a girl who was never on good terms with me. At first, we were friends, but we never got along, and I started fighting with her a lot. She used to pull my hair and dig her nails into my arms, but the worst part was that she put me down with her words. She made me feel like I was worthless, like I was a waste of space. I tried to talk to her, but she never seemed to see or care about what she was doing to me. I even tried to fight her back, to hurt her as she hurt me, but she never seemed to be as affected by it as I was. I used to dread going to school and having to face her.

After a while, I talked to my mother about this. By then, I had lost any hope that I was a good person. My mother convinced me otherwise, made me believe in myself again. She told me that the bully would only continue if she saw she was affecting me. So I had to show that she wasn’t. I had to ignore her, show her I was above her petty battles, and make her see I had bounced back, 10 times stronger than before. I had to be resilient.

It worked! The first week or two was hard, because she tried to get my attention even more than before, but eventually she started leaving me alone. And something good had come out of all this: I had learned that no matter what happens, I have to be resilient. I have to stand up for myself and not let people walk over me. I realized that if I stay strong, everything will clear up eventually. And it works like a charm every time.

Meesha Chotai, 12, is an avid reader and likes to write poems, create art, play music, and dance (ballet). Her current ambitions include becoming a stage-performer and re-reading all her favorite books.

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn

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Art by Jaden Flach, Brooklyn