Letter to a victim...

A teacher friend asked me if I would talk to her nephew because he was suffering from ptsd and panic attacks after being bullied for several years. We connected via email and he's been asking me a lot of questions, one of which was "how long will these feelings last?" What follows was my reply.

You're a teenager which in my opinion is the hardest period of life. You have so much going on in your head and things are changing so fast. Believe it or not, none of your peers really have an idea of who they are or where they want to be either.

They may act like they have it all together but the reality is that most of them are just as scared as your are. Sure they hide behind friends, sports, dating etc. but those things can all be taken away so quickly and they know that. They have more to lose and therefore are probably even more afraid.

You've gotten to the bottom and are asking hard questions and facing your fears. This is a great place to be because now you can begin to recreate yourself in your own image. As Shakespeare said "To thine own self be true". This is the time to find something you're passionate about and begin to create a life on purpose.

People ask me all the time if I believe in life after death and I tell them that's way above my pay grade. I'm more concerned with life after birth. So many people are wasting there lives chasing material possessions and public opinion without regard to any real purpose. They're the lost ones my friend, you've been given a gift.

To quote from Whitman, "O me! O life!... of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless... of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?" Answer. That you are here - that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?

You've seen that the opinion of others is fickle mistress. If I gave up every time someone told me my ideas wouldn't work or I looked ugly on camera, I would have never created my show. I chased material possession and public opinion for 38 years before I realized it was a myth. Then I decided to trust my gut and find something worth doing.

You're 16. Imagine what you can do now that you don't have to please anyone but yourself. But remember, bravery is not the absence of fear, it's feeling the fear and doing it anyway. How long will the feeling last? At some level, the rest of your life. If you're doing it right.