A life-altering sports injury while traveling in Australia many years ago and the onset of chronic pain eventually led me to an inner exploration and my spiritual path of Kabbalah. One of the hidden gems within this excruciating time in my life was that I was pushed to the edge until I found my voice and true passion. This led me to create a band called My Silent Bravery.
My Silent Bravery symbolizes persistence, perseverance and inner strength to overcome obstacles in the face of adversity.
Over time, and through my spiritual path, I’ve healed the inner and outer pain, and through my own “dark night of the soul,” I’m now at a place to pay forward the blessings I earned through pain, obstacles, and adversity.
One of the things I do in this capacity is hosting a weekly Facebook Live program, titled MSB TV. During the program, I host fans of My Silent Bravery, known as the “Bravehearts.” We talk as a community while sharing struggles and breakthroughs. It’s a time of deep connection and support through various heart to heart conversations.
I also give live acoustic performances of my music during the show. I know we’re all very much capable of changing the world and making it a better place. So, if I can do that through music, that’s what my mission is.
Earlier this year, I noticed an upsurge of new viewers. Imagine my dismay when I realized we had been crudely disrupted by a “couch auction.” For those who may be unfamiliar, Urban Dictionary defines a “couch auction” as “a group of Facebook trolls who find random live streams and ask about an imaginary couch they are selling.
When these trolls come in numbers of 20+, they are powerful. They will call the broadcaster the opposite gender to anger them more. These trolls send messages like: “Am I too late for the couch auction?” “Young man/lady, did you sell the couch yet?” “Hi, is the couch still for sale?” “Hello, I saw a Craigslist ad that said you were selling a couch.” “Show us the couch little girl/boy.” “Shoe on head.”
The only way to fend these trolls off is putting a shoe on your head. They take a screenshot, post it in their troll group as a badge of honor, then leave.”
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What I know for sure is that we can’t allow bullies and their charades of false bravado to control or dominate us.
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This sudden harassment in the midst of a sincere conversation with my audience brought up feelings of helplessness in how to respond quickly and feelings of being bullied and violated. It was obvious to me that this disrespectful group had shown up to instigate fear. I was aware the Bravehearts were feeling similarly—it was an offensive invasion of privacy.
Cyberbullying or any form of bullying is a cowardly act of violence. As I contemplate the subject of bullying, I can only believe that it’s rooted in deep insecurity and a misguided cry for attention.
This unexpected incident reminded me why I wrote and produced my single and music video “Can’t Quit.” I invite you to view it here:
“Can’t Quit” is available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and Spotify.
Matthew Wade of My Silent Bravery from the music video “Can’t Quit”
What I know for sure is we can’t allow bullies and their charades of false bravado to control or dominate us. We can’t allow them to detract us from being open-hearted or from our trust in basic human goodness. We can’t allow them to shake our self-confidence or cause us to question our self-worth. We can’t allow them to wreak havoc on our inner goodness and real strength.
Most importantly, we can’t allow bullies or the pain we experience from bullying to cause us to back away from our entrepreneurial journey—no matter how uncomfortable we get.
When bullies appear, they are really showing us their lack of strength—their weakness, their lack of self-worth and self-respect; and thus, their inability in that moment to respect others.
This goes for bullies separate from us and also the same bullies who taunt us from within.
As I further contemplate bullying, I ask myself, “What happened in that person’s life to create their need to bully?” How do we as human beings see beyond bullying into the divine nature that lies within each of us? And how do we show compassion for those who bully and are bullied (including ourselves)?
Compassion is an important ingredient we all need to grow and thrive.
Ultimately, I believe we live in a benevolent Universe and everything that happens is for our own personal development. So, we learn from every situation—so we don’t get stuck in bitterness. While we are here on this earth and on our individual divine adventures journeying through life, we give it our all!
We can’t quit.
Have you been bullied? Are you a bully in your own life or business? I invite you to share your experiences and what you’ve learned from bullying in my group of fellow Bravehearts and with the Sick Biz community.
How can we, as entrepreneurs leading others on this journey, contribute to changing the bullying dynamic with compassion?
Lyrics For “Can’t Quit” by My Silent Bravery
It’s been a long day
I’ll say, “Can’t anything go my way?”
So, I close my eyes, and now I pray
Someday, it’ll go the way I’ve been imagining it all, in my head
But I can’t, can’t quit
And I won’t throw the towel in
My legs may cave in
But I’m going out swinging
Until the death of me, with every breath of me
I give it everything
I’m gonna give it my all
I’m gonna give it my all
Some days, my willpower fades
My heart feels it’s age
As the rain washed out the flame
Hope the spark inside never fades
But I can’t, can’t quit
And I won’t throw the towel in
My legs may cave in
But I’m going out swinging
Until the death of me, with every breath of me
I give it everything
I’m gonna give it my all
I’m gonna give it my all
And when the doubts creep in
Sneak into my head
I need to look within and change
The way I think
But I can’t, can’t quit
I’m going out swinging
Until the death of me, with every breath of me
I give it everything
I’m gonna give it my all
I’m gonna give it my all
Until the death of me, I’m chasin’ destiny
It’s slowly catchin’ me
I’m gonna give it my all
I’m gonna give it my all
Until the death of me, with every breath of me
I give it everything
I’m gonna give it my all
I’m gonna give it my all
Until the death of me, I’m chasin’ destiny
It’s slowly catchin’ me
I’m gonna give it my all
I’m gonna give it my all
Download Two Free Hit My Silent Bravery Songs here.
A version of this article previously published on The Good Men Project.
