Attraction and Persuasion
looking really weird. So do you know what happened? Just like everywhere, at every school, and during every time period of life, there was a bully who picked on him. The bully called him funny-looking, and he called him bad names, and just made him feel sad, made him cry, and made him feel alone.” And my kids were looking at me with questions in their eyes: “What happened next? What happened to poor Toof? How old is he? Is he real?” “Yeah, but then one day, Toof was walking to school, and he saw the bully that always made fun of him getting dropped off by his dad. What he noticed was that his dad was bullying him, and was really mean to him, and pushed him out of the car, and it hit Toof’s heart. And he said, ‘I don’t care how he treats me. I now understand why.’ And Toof walked up to the bully, and he said to him, ‘Listen, you can be mean to me, but I understand why you are, and I’m sorry your dad treats you that way.’ “And he tried to give him a hug, and the bully kind of pushed him away. But then, all of a sudden at lunch, the bully sat with Toof. And they sat and talked to each other, and they eventually became friends. But that day, it wasn’t really about the bully. What Toof realized is that he wasn’t going to give anyone else permission to make him feel bad. That he was in control of his emotions and feelings. “He decided to be happy no matter what other people said or did. He realized it doesn’t matter what he looks like, or what his hair does, or that he’s half werewolf and half human. What matters is how he feels inside, and that people’s words on the outside can’t affect him. “And Toof got empowered, and all of a sudden the whole school started liking him. Soon his confidence grew, and he be- came head of the student council. And Toof went on to go to an amazing college, and get married, and be happy because he re- alized that his value wasn’t in other people’s thoughts, but that his value was who he was on the inside.” And oh my God, my kids went nuts! They loved Toof. They were like, “Toof is so awesome; I want to meet him. Tell us
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