Other people’s thoughts – good, bad or indifferent – are their own. Enjoy your own life to the full; you can’t please everyone all of the time, and there’s no need to try to.
Accept that you can’t control what other people think. You’ve no idea what might go through their head, or why; everyone responds differently.
Other people might judge you for not meeting up to their standards – but if you’re true to your own goals and values, then you know you’ve got your priorities right.
You can contact a ChildLine counsellor about anything – no problem is too big or too small. Call free on 0800 1111, have a 1-2-1 chat online or send an email.
ChildLine is a private and confidential service for children and young people up to the age of nineteen. Call free on 0800 1111. Calls won’t appear on the phone bill, including mobiles.
1 in 20 children in the UK have been sexually abused. 1 in 3 children who were sexually abused by an adult did not tell anyone else at the time. 9 out of 10 children were abused by someone they knew.
For more information and support about self-harm, useful resources include SelfHarm.co.uk, Harmless (www.harmless.org.uk) and National Self Harm Network (www.nshn.co.uk).
Some may benefit from professional help for self-harm: this can be accessed through your GP, and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service provision can be accessed through a referral by your GP, school nurse, or teacher.
An important step forward is making the decision to learn to live without self-harm, and being prepared to face underlying issues that may have caused the behaviour in the first place.
When you are feeling hurt, the proverb “This, too, shall pass” reminds us that all situations are temporary – good or bad – that change is inevitable, and that we can enjoy the good situations in life without the fear of losing them.