Plan B, try to change how you let them affect you. Easier said than done, but very effective when pulled off.
The perspective shift is this: if they bully you, tease you, put you down, and you get angry and sad, notice that you let them decide your feelings. Instead, view what they say, as something that says more about them than it does you.
Source: I struggled with bullying. I'm still considered odd, but that I'm OK with that.
Imho an even better idea : abolish the whole concept of self worth. It can't be negative if it doesn't exist. Being is enough, it's what matters the most. Having to "be worth" on top of that, in the eye of others or even oneself ? No thanks.
I know what I'm saying is not very different from the OP, but I care about the nuance.
This message was made by the "my psychiatrist is on holidays" gang.
I wanted to disagree with you or come up with an example of when having self worth would be better than the concept not existing, but I can't think of anything. Maybe I had too many shrooms on my last trip, but I get what you are saying.
Realistically, the dignity with which one is treated is not intrinsic, it's largely a product of our environment. The same individual, worthy as any other, will be treated very differently around the world. Your dignity isn't merely a transaction, it's a lottery.
These messages always ring so hollow. "This internet stranger thinks you're worth it!" Sure mate, but you don't know them, and likely never will. It's the perverse opposite of toxic doomerism: positivity wanking for show. You're soo worth it, now get back to work, bills won't pay themselves.
Sorry, not aimed at you, jmcs. Good on you for explaining. I'm straight up not having a good time, just block me.
Worth fluctuates. I’d say Michael Schumacher is worth a lot less than he used to be…..
Michael Schumacher is still valued by his family and friends, regardless of how society at large may view the earning potential someone who has suffered a TBI. His worth as a human is no less simply because he can’t increase the value of Ferrari or Omega or Marlboro anymore.
"Worth" in the humanist "all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights" sense, not in the capitalistic "if you aren't rich or making the rich richer, then die" sense.
I’ve got that sound bite stuck in my head where some dude rambles something like „you’ve got to get mad! Slam your fist on the table and scream I’m a human being goddamnit, my life has value!“ and it keeps me going.