Monday, April 23, 2012
I hate being called by my nickname

Question: I hate to be called by my nickname. But the more I dislike about it, the more they call me by it. What should I do to make my nickname disappear?

Answer:

This is such a hard question! But I think your friends were not being bad. When you get mad at it, people would feel that it’s fun to make fun of you. So, you might get the opposite effect if you hate it so much.

Here, I’d like to suggest you to accept that nickname. Just act as usual when they call you by the nickname. You might not make it, but you had to learn to endure. If they found out that you didn’t actually care about it, they’d begin to think that it’s not fun to do so. Naturally, they’d stop.

There could still be a little trouble with it at the beginning, but it’ll be better in time. What’s important is that regardless of which field we may be in, when someone calls us for our nicknames, there must be something about us that’s outstanding.

I bet a nickname wouldn’t be a pleasant name after all. If you weren’t tall, they’d call you “shorty”, or if you were chubby they’d call you “fatty”. Hence, it could get troublesome when someone’s giving us nicknames over our appearance or character.

However, we must remember that one’s dignity is not determined by their nicknames. If you were a student, it’ll be judged on whether you’ve studied about books that brings you great values. It will be determined on whether you’ve fulfilled your duty as the class monitor, whether or not you treasure your friends, and whether you’ve been practicing a good lifestyle.

For example, Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a Japanese shoemaker who ended up becoming the warrior who had united the Japan’s Warring states. Toyotomi’s appearance looked like a monkey, and so people had been calling him “monkey”. However, he never really mind about it and continued his task to serve the people. However, when he became the noble warrior of Japan, no one ever did call him “monkey” anymore.

Isn’t it saddening to be called “monkey”? If it were you, would you have the power to endure it? What would happen if Toyotomi chose to run away from this problem? Probably the people would laugh at him ever worse than before and he might not turn out to be a person with great mission. Perhaps he would really just be a “monkey” for the rest of his life.

Toyotomi’s nobleness is his endurance. Please do what we must with the fullest of our heart. Be clear with our aim, have noble ambition and persist on your journey. Toyotomi could leave a beautiful history for Japan because of his endurance and effort.

Actually, you could be a noble person as well. You may not do something as great as Toyotomi, but if you could have an achievement acknowledged by the people, I’m sure they’d stop calling your by the nickname. Even if it stays the same, it would turn out to have a different meaning, a friendlier respect it is.

The great philosopher, Epictetus once said “Those who remember ‘endurance and self-restraint’ deep in their heart, and to take it as a guidance would live a life without disaster.” To endure through this, is to tolerate and accept things with love. Change such endurance into a motivation force to create a noble warrior out of you.

At this point of view, rather to mind and care about what other people call us, why not take the opportunity to discover whether they are teasing you and insulting you. In the end, it all falls on how we think. Thus, I hope that you never lose your confidence anymore. Never feel defeated but train yourself to be stronger and joyful until you find the best solution.

Shared by,
Wee Yean.

Labels:

Written at 7:45 PM by Paper Pilot.