Thank you for sharing Clare. I know it hurts, but the sad thing, it's only hurting you, not them, so they keep winning, only this time it's you who allow them to win. You can learn to recondition your mind, I know you can, because everyone has the capability. My bully was my mom, in more ways than one. I wrote a piece about being hair shamed, and she was the biggest shamer of all. She outshone any bully I ever knew, in fact, I can't even remember any bullies, but I'm certain I had them, but my mother took the cake (as we real oldtimers used to say :-) Anyway, I know everyone's experience is different, but you have to find a way to let it go darling - you'll feel so much lighter when you do. Carrying all that crap is heavy as hell! :-)