About the author: Jermaine Reed, MFA is a college English professor and writer from Chicago who creates fiction, nonfiction and local and national news stories. For self-publishers, authors and other writers and Creatives, Jermaine provides proofreading on Fivver. Please join Jermaine’s email list to get notifications on new blog posts, writing advice and free books. Get his recently released Science Fiction novel A Glitch in Humanity by clicking here.
In the last bars of Eminem’s song “Book of Rhymes,” Eminem declares, “Note to self: ‘Sometimes you’re gonna bomb, so you just might have to pull yourself up with no one’s help.’” To his listeners, he then says, “I just wrote this down in my Book of Rhymes.” This inspirational line is delivered by an unlikely source in a song where he decries having to “wrestle with this iPad…unsuccessfully” as he responds in knee jerk fashion to online criticism, the same criticism people like you face every day. There are ways to beat internet bullies and trolls, and those methods are scarcely but powerfully dropped jewels in Eminem’s song “Book of Rhymes.”
Bullies thrive off of controlling your emotions.
To continue, in the very first lines of the song, Eminem says, “I don’t frown; I don’t smile; get too up or get too down.” What he is expressing here is nearly absolute control of his feelings. To say he doesn’t smile is an exaggeration meant to show that he does not allow others to control his happiness. This is something you must embrace. Bullies thrive off controlling your emotions. They will intentionally trick you into laughing just to make you the butt of the joke. Point is, be less open to allowing others to emotionally manipulate you, no matter how much you miss him when he isn’t cheating or how happy she makes you when she isn’t lying.
Moreover, day in and out, you scroll Facebook and see an old high school buddy has graduated college or landed a big career. Or that gossiper Keisha got married, and the bling of her ring on Instagram nearly blinds you. You sigh. You’re nobody, and the internet perpetually reminds you of that. As Eminem puts it, “I can not have [any] success!” But you’re wrong, and even Em admits that he is incorrect in “Book of Rhymes.”
You have to know who the haters are in your life.
As we have seen, in a game thick in deception and flooded with struggling artists, an emcee as unlikely as Eminem made it. None of his foes thought he would, and just few of his friends stood by. By the time he finally solidified his name in the rap industry, Eminem had come to learn his trolls and bullies were no more than “haters.” You have to know who the haters are in your life. Their job is to put doubt in your head about your potential and to douse the flame of any spark of a good idea you may have. Without identifying and cutting these people off, you run the risk of letting them silently but purposefully murder your dreams.
And just exactly how do you beat internet bullies? Other than what is already mentioned, realize that bullies do not own you. Most of the time, they are weird ignorant people who hide behind keyboards and VPNs. Even if you know the bully personally, you still should not let what they think dictate how you maneuver through your life. Put you first, because nobody else will, especially not a troll. Turn off the computer, and do you. No pity parties. As Eminem puts it, “Sometimes you’re gonna bomb, so you just might have to pull yourself up with no one’s help.”
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