People have been making rumours about my sexuality commenting that I m gay Though I have been trying hard to ignore all this it sometimes comes in my way and leaves me devastated Is it related only to people who score well Or to people who are a little extrovert

People have been making rumours about my sexuality, commenting that I'm gay.

Question : People have been making rumours about my sexuality, commenting that I'm gay. Though, I have been trying hard to ignore all this, it sometimes comes in my way and leaves me devastated. Is it related only to people who score well? Or to people who are a little extrovert? Teentalker , 16-year-old

Dear Teentalker,

Thank you for attending the Teentalk India session at your school, for reaching out and sharing your concerns. On behalf of the team, I also wanted to apologize for the delayed response, since there was a technical issue which has now been resolved.

First and foremost, congratulations on being one of the class toppers. This will surely help you in the journey ahead!

Dear Teentalker,

First and foremost, congratulations on being one of the class toppers. This will surely help you in the journey ahead!

Teen years can be challenging, especially if you have the courage to be yourself and not adhere to peer pressure. You're right about toppers being subject to such insults during school/college days. But believe it or not, you always have a choice: to suffer because of all the negativity or to look at the same situation from a different point of view.

Here are some suggestions that could potentially help you to get through this challenging phase:

1.Get to know yourself better: Figure out who you are and what you truly want to do in life. You have the power to choose the life you want: Get to know what matters to you the most, by working on the tool 'The Values Worksheet'. Please click on the following link to know more: http://teentalkindia.com/toolbox/3 You can also begin working on tools such as 'Suffered from abuse- The Safe Place Exercise', '20 Things I love About Myself' and 'The MPS Process'. Please click on the following link to know more: http://teentalkindia.com/toolbox

I highly recommend you also watch this video 'I didn't like gay people' as it will give you the much needed clarity: http://teentalkindia.com/explore/sexuality-lgbtq

2.Learn to stand up for yourself: In other words, be assertive and getting through the situations will become relatively better. You can learn more about assertiveness by watching relevant videos. Please click on the following links to know more:

i)How to be assertive- http://teentalkindia.com/video

ii)5 tips on how to be more assertive- http://teentalkindia.com/video/explore/expert-speak

You can also work on the tool 'The DEARMAN technique' to help you get started. Please click on the following links to know more: http://teentalkindia.com/toolbox

3.Focus on your short and long-term goals: Just because you're going through a difficult phase now, doesn't mean it has to be like that forever. You can choose to start working towards your short-term and long-term goals by working on the SMART goals activity tool. Please click on the following link to know more: http://teentalkindia.com/toolbox/2

Hope this helps, if you have any other query do connect online for chat from 11am-8pm or drop us an offline message.

Regards,

Expert Teentalk India

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