Wolves in Authority: When Bullies Hide Behind Power

 

Explore how bullies wield authority as a weapon—teachers, bosses, relatives using humiliation as "discipline." A compassionate letter on healing and reclaiming your power

 Week 7 — Wolves in Authority

**Story intro:** A teacher, boss, or older relative whose “discipline” felt more like humiliation.

**Theme:** Bullies aren’t just peers — they can hold positions of authority, using power as their shield.

Dear One Who Still Flinches at Raised Voices,

I remember the classroom where the air grew thick whenever she walked in. Or the office where his “feedback” sessions left you staring at the floor, cheeks burning. Or the family dinner table where an elder’s sharp “correction” sliced deeper than any playground insult ever could.

You were small, and they were supposed to protect you. Teachers, bosses, uncles, coaches—people handed power because society trusted them to guide, not to wound. Yet some used that power like claws hidden in a handshake. Their discipline wasn’t about teaching; it was about control. They dressed humiliation as tough love, sarcasm as wisdom, public shaming as motivation. And because they stood taller—on a podium, behind a desk, at the head of the table—their bites left marks no one else could see.

You learned early to shrink. To apologize for existing too loudly. To doubt your own memory of what hurt. Maybe you still carry that reflex: the quick “sorry” when someone in charge frowns, the knot in your stomach before performance reviews, the way you rehearse conversations with authority figures in your head at 2 a.m.

Here’s what time and distance have shown me: those wolves weren’t strong. They were insecure, feeding on the fear they could manufacture in people who couldn’t fight back. Real authority lifts. It corrects without crushing. It sees potential and nurtures it, even through mistakes. What you experienced wasn’t discipline—it was abuse wearing the costume of responsibility.

You didn’t deserve it then. You don’t deserve to carry the shame of it now.

Healing isn’t about forgiving them to absolve them—it’s about forgiving yourself for believing, even for a moment, that you were the problem. It’s about recognizing that their behavior said everything about their limitations and nothing about your worth.

Here’s my heartfelt takeaway: The power they misused was never proof of your smallness; it was evidence of theirs. You survived a wolf in shepherd’s clothing, and that makes you fiercer than you know.

And a gentle question to sit with: Where in your life today do you still hand over your peace to someone simply because they hold a title—and what might it feel like to take one small step toward reclaiming it?

With steady belief in your quiet strength,  

Someone Who Sees the Courage It Took to Keep Going