In media, bullies usually get what's coming to them and the protagonist triumphs.

That's not really how my story played out.

Ultimately I did triumph. Not over him, but over my desperate need to be accepted no matter the circumstances, no matter the price I had to pay.

It was just one in a series of lessons I would learn the hard way during my stumbling torpid trip through the snowy mountain dungeon on my map.

I became less dependent on others for approval

Time gives perspective to all things.

8 years after I rid myself of my bully's power over me, I ran into him again by chance while at a training.

The result was...surprising to say the least. I'll let my 28-year-old self take it from here:

November 3, 2013

"It was over 8 years ago that L, a former Prep School and USAFA mascot, became my mentor when I was a freshman and played mind games on me that nearly made me contemplate leaving the school. In 2007...I told him off and blamed his lack of mentorship for my shortcomings on the [cheerleading] team. I never spoke to him again after that interaction, that is until Friday.

When I returned I looked at him, standing only 5' 5" with a slight frame I wondered why I had ever been intimidated by him.

He proceeded to tell me that he was sorry for how he had treated me back at school and that how he had treated me bothered him for a long time after he left USAFA.

He confessed that he had treated others like shit too and he felt bad for that too.

I was nearly speechless. I sensed no chastisement or jest in his voice...His apology had been directly from the heart.

In response I told him that I had a lot of growing up to do at the time as well and maybe my expectations of him at the time were slightly unrealistic. He acknowledged that and like two adults we accepted each others' past shortcomings and moved on.

...I realized that my relationship with L had marked a turning point in my life and had made me less dependent on others for approval and validation.

It set me on the path of liberation and self-discovery that I continue to walk to this day. Although, I did suffer great emotional turmoil because of him, he made me into a better man, it took me all this time to realize that."