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When I was around 12, I was bullied at a bus stop by some girls from my neighborhood.

They were laughing and making fun of me because I was wearing bobby socks. It seems in their eyes, socks were for babies and uncool. They were wearing stockings—the hosiery that predated pantyhose.

They also took pleasure in pointing and laughing at my un-styled—maybe even uncombed—hair.

You see, my mom was a single working mom who couldn’t afford to buy me stockings. She barely had time to get my brother and I fed and dressed and off to the bus stop before having to get herself off to work.

Not getting fired from her job because she was running late was probably a bigger priority to her than making sure my hair was styled according to the latest fashion.

At an age where fitting in was so important, their cruel words found a home in my psyche, and my first feelings of not being good enough were born.

I have carried those feelings with me ever since.

If there can be an upside to such a sad thing, it would be that those feelings motivated me to find ways to fight for others who also felt less than.

That hurt young girl morphed into a peace-sign-flashing, bell-bottom-wearing hippy chic, carrying a protest sign reading “Make love, Not war.”

Figuratively, I am still carrying that sign now, even as I approach the milestone age of 70.

I will speak loudly, any chance I get, against hate and prejudice. I will stand up for the disenfranchised and the poor. I will use my voice for those who are afraid to speak up for themselves.

I will share love and hope and encouragement wherever I can.

I will stand between the vulnerable and the bully and take the blows so that no one else ever has to experience the pain of feeling less than.

I am not a saint or a martyr. My ego isn’t so big that I believe I can save the world.

Those of us who carry around those feelings of not being good enough are not driven by ego. We are motivated by love and a desire to save anyone else from having to feel like they don’t belong.

A child who needs to hurt others in order to feel good about themselves can morph into an adult who believes that cruelty is a justifiable means to control and obtain power over others.

They don’t seek to elevate the human experience but rather they seek only to maintain the appearance of superiority and control.

Stand up to the bullies, whether it is in the school yard or at the voting booth.

None of us are less than. We are all more than good enough and deserve to take up space in any way we choose.

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