Something I've been thinking of is that my parents made me believe certain behaviors are more normal than they really are. So I often put up with minor offenses from people out of pity or politeness and they mistake it as weakness.

I also considered the envy factor because the bullies I encounter usually have no career or family and are quite isolated. Then they try to persuade me I am a failure and that I need their advice when they seemed to have mismanaged their own lives much worse.

And like I recently posted about my older sister yelling insults at me in a music class during college. At the time, I believed she thought I was inferior to her, but now she is complaining that I discouraged her from studying music when she was the one who was flinging insults when I was younger and less experienced. So I am suspecting more and more that bullies are just jealous and trying to hide it by keeping you on the defensive.