Advice to my 18 year old cousin.
My 18 year old cousin wrote this note on her Facebook status:
“So a couple of years ago when i was at high school this sick twisted rumor came out about me. People are still actually sad enough to believe it as well. The things they used to say to me brought me down and i had no confidence, its sad to say i didn’t have friends because everyone believed it. Can i tell you something 4-5 years on and people are still believe that i did that stuff, so can i just tell you the now. its not bloody true. Go do something better with your life than spread horrible shit about people.”
This is an all too familiar story, and I was proud she spoke up. Here’s my response:
Those people can believe what they want to believe. They’ll miss out on knowing you, which is a bloody shame.
Some of my favourite people had things like this happen to them. They managed to grow into empathetic, outgoing, amazing people. They aren’t selfish people, they look out for their fellow humans and speak out when they see someone being mistreated. They’re the type of people who make good friends, and know that rumours are nothing.
Those people who started the rumours and kept them going will miss everything cool about life, including you.
True fact.
