Tom Cruise talks about bullies, and dyslexia

When Tom Cruise was a teen he says, "I had no really close friend, someone who understands you. I was always the new kid with the wrong shoes, the wrong accent. I didn't have the friend to share things with and confide in." Tom was in 15 different schools in 12 years. Like many kids today, he had a reading disability so instead of putting him in with the "normal" kids they put him in remedial classes. A lot of our readers can understand that and how that makes you feel. Tom said he felt excluded and being small he was bullied a lot. "So many times the big bully comes up, pushes me. Your heart's pounding, you sweat, and you feel like you're going to vomit. I'm not the biggest guy, I never liked hitting someone, but I know if I don't hit that guy hard he's going to pick on me all year. I go, 'You better fight.' I just laid it down. I don't like bullies."

What's Tom's advice? "People can create their own lives. I saw how my mother created hers and so made it possible for us to survive. My mother was the one who rose to the occasion. She held three jobs. She said, 'We're going to get through this.'

On happiness Tom says, "Let me tell you what happiness is ... it's being able to confront and overcome problems. It's not running away but trying to see life in its full glory." Source: April 9, 2006 PARADE Magazine