Bullying manifests itself in a variety of shapes and flavors. Children (and adults) get judged by their clothes, ethnicity, sexual identity, and for disabilities that they have no control over. Truth be told, that's just a fraction of the reasons people are bullied every day, so it's easy to imagine wanting to escape a life of feeling lesser-than. Sometimes though, someone comes along and offers a unique perspective on life that reminds us that perhaps we have it better of that we realize.
The question is, what can we do to recognize that perspective when it's staring us in the face, or in this instance, sitting next to us on a bench? When bullying causes a meshing of self-worth with our materialistic presentation, how easy is it to forget that what we see on someone's surface rarely tells the whole story?
This is a story of a child feeling shame over his lot in life, and his envious ambitions to switch places with another boy who he perceives to have everything he ever wanted. He's under the impression that if he could just spend a day in the life of his park-bench counterpart, all of his problems and feelings of self-doubt would melt away. Little does he know that the other boy's feelings are mutual, but for entirely different reasons.
We'd love to hear what you thought of the powerful message in this video, and please spread the word if you were as moved as I was.
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