Hate And Healing

The road to healing, as most are aware of in our more grounded moments, is paved with understanding,  communication, self-awareness, and forgiveness of ourselves and others. Especially when we are healing from betrayal, abuse, oppression, and/or trauma. It is very important to find our own voice for the first time, or find it once again if we have buried it, and use it to tell our stories. Those of us on the path to healing are aware of how important connecting and communicating with trustworthy souls really is; we need to be seen and heard. We need to feel that we are being seen and being heard as well, and believed, and listened to like the worthy and valuable human beings we really are.

When we find our voice, either for the first time, or once again, we often want to shout to the world the things we have been through and the things we have witnessed. We want to be heard! We want to be acknowledged! We want to be recognized, and we want people to know and understand where we have been, and what we have endured! We want people to see that we have every right to be angry, and we want them to know why! We crave, for once, to finally be the one who is on the receiving end of the understanding, validation, empathy and comfort! Of course we do, if we didn't feel this way, we would be tragically too far "gone" to recover. This shouting to the world "Listen to me! Hear me! I am HERE! I have endured, I have survived, and I need you to see me!" means we are still alive!

But sometimes, in our quest to recover our true selves, to feel healthy and whole again, we can get caught up in our quest and let our anger swell. It is of course good and essential to express our anger! If we have been treated unfairly, or terribly, it would be an expected and normal emotion, and to express that is very important. But there is a difference between expressing our anger at how we have been treated, and letting our anger turn to hatred. When we let that go unchecked, we have stepped off the path of healing ourselves, and into a different place where neither understanding nor forgiveness live. Many of us have already been in that place due to someone else's hatred or darkness, so we already know that it's barren and desolate, and is no place for healing.

We share information about various personality disorders, psychiatric disorders, and human behaviors and dynamics. The more understanding a person has of human beings, the more effectively he or she will be able to deal with what's going on with the people around him or her, and what's going on inside of his or her own heart and mind. Sharing information and experience is always helpful, and each person has their own unique understanding and experiences to contribute. That one piece of the puzzle one person has might be the one missing piece someone else needs to be able to see their own picture.

The value of sharing information about personality disorders and psychology, however, can get diminished and twisted when we add judgment. The fact is, most humans have some kind of psychological something that could be called a disorder. For most people, it's very hard to hear or accept, but no "normal" human being is free from self-deception, egoism, and childhood conditioning. Simply having complete belief that I am safe from harm right at this moment is a kind of delusion; if my brain could stand to handle all the things that could happen to me, for real, I would probably freeze in fear and anxiety, and curl up in a ball. Or perhaps I would become extremely defensive and wear armor and weapons, or live in a steel shelter with 12 guard dogs. However, my automatic self-deception convinces me that I am perfectly safe, right here, right now, and that nothing could possibly happen before I'm finished writing. It's our brain's way of making sure we can get things done and walk around on the Earth every day.

Those of us who have been through things outside of the realm of "normal everyday life", like trauma, abuse, oppression, slander, and severe betrayal have usually developed coping skills and defense mechanisms, some that we are aware of, and some that we may not be aware of. PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) can happen to anyone who experiences trauma, attack and/or abuse.  Those who have lived inside of ongoing abusive and oppressive situations, especially when occurring in childhood, can result in symptoms of not only PTSD, but also "personality disorders" such as BPD (borderline personality disorder, or "emotional dysregulation"), Histrionic Disorder, NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder), Passive-Aggressive Disorder, and a few others.

It is estimated that "Personality Disorders" make up approximately more than half of psychiatric diagnoses.

BPD is a relatively common disorder that seems to be a result of an abusive and neglectful childhood, whether there was only one abusive person, or more than one. Many abusive situations are perpetuated by members of a group simply living WITH the abuse, and doing little or nothing about it. When a child is the target of one abusive person, and no one intervenes for any number of reasons, the child's perception can be "no one cares about me, no one is on my side". The child's subconscious then begins to create coping skills to help the child survive the ongoing abuse. To make a light analogy, it would be like being the only child in a game of dodge ball who keeps getting hit in the face by the bully who whips the ball, and everyone else just pretends it's not happening, including the teacher and the principal; when the child who is being smashed with the ball cries or complains, everyone just tells him or her to be quiet and stop whining, and might say "you are getting hit because you are whining". If the child runs away, everyone either just pretends the child was never there, and simply keeps playing, or hunts the child down and punishes him or her, and marks the child with a "bad seed" or "crazy" label in order to avoid accountability. No one takes the child out of the situation, no one stands up for the child, no one protects the child, everyone blames the child for everyone else's behavior, no one removes the bullies. How would a child in that situation continue to feel like just a "normal" kid? They wouldn't, so in order to survive, their subconscious rewrites their coping skills to deal with this abnormal ongoing situation. Of course when those coping skills are rewritten, they will no longer fit in a "normal" life, but once they're rewritten, they will have to be rewritten yet again if the child ever gets out of the abusive situation, and when those rewrites have gone on for long enough time and are deep enough, they feel like an actual part of the person's personality.

That child will quite likely develop Borderline Personality Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, or Antisocial Personality Disorder. Hopefully for everyone else, the child has huge natural inner strength and can retain enough compassion to remember what it was like, at least emotionally, before the abuse began. It will be very hard for that person to trust anyone, and he/she will be an expert at detecting disingenuous people, including those in the psychology field. Healing him/herself will be very difficult because of the ongoing lesson he or she was made to endure about not trusting anyone, and healing requires some measure of trust. Paranoia would of course be possible, if not probable; when one has lived through years of being targeted and unprotected, how does one suddenly start believing that a new person is genuine and trustworthy? Defensiveness, fear, resentment and anger is what this person was trained to feel day in and day out, and they may not even be aware that there is any other way that a REAL person can feel. 

In summation, when we vilify Personality Disorders or those who have Personality Disorders, we do not help ourselves to heal, and will make it much harder for us to admit we may have symptoms ourselves. If we deny our own symptoms because we have labeled them "bad", then we set ourselves up to avoid our own healing. This is the main problem that is so often discussed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder; if we can't admit our own mistakes, "flaws", or shortcomings, we can't fix them and we can't heal them. When we call people "bad" who seem to have a Personality Disorder, they will be much more likely to deny they have any symptoms, and less likely to ever seek help. Especially when that person (them or us) has been avoiding being called "bad" his or her whole life because of the people around them doling out consequences and abandonment. We have the right to protect ourselves from any and all abuse, absolutely. That is the first priority. But we are not healing if we abandon our own values in our anger, and let our anger turn to hate. A world with more hate is just a world with more hate. Healing happens in compassion, learning, humility, objectivity, and love.


Peace!


MM Black


American Psychiatric Association

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (currently the DSM-IV) lists ten personality disorders, grouped into three clusters in Axis II. The DSM also contains a category for behavioral patterns that do not match these ten disorders, but nevertheless exhibit characteristics of a personality disorder. This category is labeled Personality disorder not otherwise specified.

[edit] Cluster A (odd or eccentric disorders and fears Social relation)

[edit] Cluster B (dramatic, emotional or erratic disorders)

[edit] Cluster C (anxious or fearful disorders)

[edit] Appendix B: Criteria Sets and Axes Provided for Further Study

Appendix B contains the following disorders.[17]

[edit] Other

Some types of personality disorder were in previous versions of the diagnostic manuals but have been deleted. This includes two types that were in the DSM-III-R appendix as "Proposed diagnostic categories needing further study" without specific criteria, namely Sadistic personality disorder (a pervasive pattern of cruel, demeaning and aggressive behavior) and Self-defeating personality disorder (masochistic personality disorder) (characterised by behaviour consequently undermining the person's pleasure and goals).[18] The psychologist Theodore Millon and others consider some relegated diagnoses to be equally valid disorders, and may also propose other personality disorders or subtypes, including mixtures of aspects of different categories of the officially accepted diagnoses

Healthy Boundaries

Building healthy boundaries is the most important tool we need in dealing with N's in general, or anyone else who does not care about other's well-being. N's (narcissists) in particular target our boundaries by way of our self-esteem; the dismissive behavior, like I'm not a real person; the clique behavior, like I'm not one of the "in crowd" or don't belong, or aren't wanted here; the silent treatments; refusal to address or answer directly; refusal to acknowledge any of my feelings, observations, vents, or accomplishments; all designed to make me feel unworthy and unwanted not just by the N, but by everyone associated with the N. When that gets into my head, then I notice it when anyone treats me with dismissal or disrespect, and that feeling of "I'm not wanted here" comes right back.
That feeling is not "crazy", it's actually awareness. N's are everywhere, and when one targets us even a little, our awareness snaps right in, even if we don't realize consciously, and we become socially uneasy. We have experienced enough N abuse to know that when even a random N targets us in a group of people we don't even know, it's only a matter of time if we stick around that we will get smeared, sabotaged, and/or ostracized. We know how easily N's are successful at turning groups of people on a person, for the most petty "reasons". We often don't know who the N is for a while, even if we know it's happening; they will usually mimic trustworthiness or being oblivious to what's going on.
WHEN our boundaries are very healthy and strong, we can bounce back when an N tries to pull their smear crap. And, we sense their presence more quickly, and don't buy into the feeling of "I'm not likeable" "I'm not good enough" nearly as much; with healhy, strong boundaries, we are much more resilient, and less susceptible to their attempts to tear us down in the first place. With strong and healthy boundaries, we don't get driven out of a group if we choose to stay, we are better able to navigate their baby noises and tactics, and we are more comfortable about leaving if we so choose. Strong boundaries give us back our feeling of choice, and our confidence in our awareness.

Kim and Steve Cooper on Narcissism

Please click on the link below to read:

http://www.narcissismcured.com/blog/narcissistic-personality-disorder-the-real-test-is-self-esteem/

Democrats vs. Republicans





Politics, really... Remember in elementary school when kids made little groups and said their group was the GOOD group and the other kids were dumb, or ugly, or weak, or whatever? You know how adults do that with their political party? Theirs is the GOOD group, and everyone in it is perfect, and anyone in the other party is stupid?
WHY are ADULTS still doing what should have been left in elementary school?!!
If you want to understand what's going on for REAL, if you give crap-one about the country you live in and your kids are growing up in, then STOP with the pedestals for your own party, and vilifying the OTHER party. STOP with the HATING everyone who doesn't go along with YOUR "party line", and stop believing you know everything that's in the heads of all the politicians, and what's REALLY going on in Congress, you DON'T KNOW. (If you think you do, then you should go get your complimentary PhD from Oxford, because you're a freaking PSYCHIC GENIUS.)  GUESS WHAT? BOTH PARTIES WANT YOU TO HATE THE OTHER ONE. It keeps you TALKING, it keeps you HATING, it keeps you LOYAL no matter WHAT they do.  If they can get you to HATE one party and FOLLOW the other, they don't care WHICH ONE, they can lead you around like a pony. You can choose to believe it or not, it doesn't matter, it 's still real, and it's still how Politics works. What's your favorite baseball team, what's your favorite football team? Which one do you HATE? How emotionally charged do you get when you're watching your favorite play against the one you hate? Why do you HATE or LOVE a freaking sports team? They (politicians, media, advertisers) know what makes humans tick, and they USE it to their advantage. There are VERY FEW politicians who actually make it all the way to office and stay there with their integrity intact, and with anyone else's best interest in mind besides there OWN, because getting there is TOO HARD if you have integrity and you're NOT a Shark who plays the Politics Game. Why do you think it's all lawyers now? Where are the non-lawyers? Why don't scientists ever get elected? Where are all the REGULAR CITIZENS who aren't in the lawyer clique? Hellooo.... Trusting "YOUR" Party is simply naive. Vilifying the other party (and your friends who belong to that party) is just as naive. Stop FOLLOWING and start Paying Attention, for real. When is the last time you read an entire bill all the way to the end, and completely understood everything in it? Do you know the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence by heart? When is the last time you read it? Do you know WHY they were written, and why each item was written? How much history of each party do you actually know? Stop FOLLOWING and start Paying Attention. THEY ALL WORK FOR ME, THEY ALL WORK FOR YOU. ALL of them, regardless of their Party affiliation. And WE are ALL CITIZENS, EQUALLY, regardless of our Party affiliation.
alliesinselfadvocacy.org
Stop FOLLOWING. Stop VILIFYING. Stop DEMONIZING. Stop raising them up on pedestals. Politicans are just PEOPLE who WORK FOR US, the CITIZENS of this country, and WE are "THE PEOPLE", ALL OF US, TOGETHER.

Better Than YOU, One-Upmanship, Identity


Do you know people who live in "One Up- Land"?


They're always on the lookout for things someone they know has done "wrong", and are always looking for ways to be "right". They have a hard time just BEING.



They're always on the lookout for someone to compare themselves to.

 


If they go for a hike, they are a better hiker than someone else.


If they talk about the weather, they know more about what's going to happen (every time, regardless of whether they actually know or not).

Their car is better, faster, cleaner, bigger, or more fuel efficient.

Their shoes, clothes or hair can't just be good for THEM, or what they personally LIKE, they have to be BETTER than someone else's in order to be good enough.

They can't just do their job well, they have to find someone they are better- than at their job, and if they can't, they will resort to other comparisons between themselves and their coworkers in order to feel okay.

They can't just be a good musician and enjoy singing or playing, and be grateful that they are doing something they love, they have to be seen as BETTER THAN someone else, and may sabotage another musician who intimidates them.

They can't just feel like they are good-looking enough, they have to compete with anyone who others might find attractive, and may try to destroy the reputation of anyone they think is better-looking (destroying the "attractiveness" of that person to others).

They can't have a discussion and just listen to other's points of view, experiences, or opinions, they have to have someone who is RIGHT and someone who is WRONG. (This is why they will argue with a person who is giving an account of their OWN experiences.)

They can't just follow, embrace, or learn about their own spiritual or religious beliefs, they have to be MORE spiritual or MORE religious, or MORE pious, or MORE in touch with God (or Gaia, or Aleister Crowley...) than someone else.

They can't just be interested in certain topics and subjects, they have to be seen as MORE interested, or MORE intellectually gifted THAN someone else.

Everything can only be "good" if it's BETTER than someone else.

Everything is in the context of playing KING OF THE HILL, or winning a game, or gaining territory.

They seem to believe that everyone else thinks and lives this way as well.

It's just a developmental delay; when children display this, we aren't surprised, and call it "immaturity". The child is seeking identity, a way to be SEEN as something or someone specific. "The Toughest Kid", "The Smart Kid", "The Expert ...." "The Most Beautiful", "The Leader", "The Lone Wolf", "The Powerful One", etc. All of these identities are in the world all around the child, and children SEE that adults DO GIVE people with these labels extra respect. So, of course they are going to believe that's how one gets respect and attention. IT'S TRUE, in the general superficial world at large, unfortunately. But the identities are hollow, they're just LABELS. Children don't know this, they're children. And if they are surrounded by adults who think those LABELS are real Identity as well, they will have a hard time developing a REAL INNER SELF, they will keep thinking that those superficial labels ARE "Who A Person IS".

Like a snail who puts all of its growth energy into its shell, but very little into its actual BODY. The shell might end up big and beautiful, but the snail itself will not be healthy or strong, and won't be able to handle carrying it around. Believing that its shell is the only thing that's important, it will keep diverting energy there, and the shell will just get heavier and heavier, and the snail will get less and less healthy.

Adults must guide children to learn where HEALTHY identity comes from, and HEALTHY self-confidence.
A person who is ACTUALLY an "expert" doesn't need to have that as an identity, and will not lose their expertise when another expert shows up. The only reason they are an "expert" is because they were interested in a subject, and learned a lot about it because of their interest.
Another person being good at something does not diminish or delete our own talent or skill.
Another person being good-looking doesn't suddenly turn us ugly or unacceptable.

(If we DO find that we are surrounded by people who abandon us or put us down every time someone else shows up that's talented, skilled, or good-looking, the problem is THEM; they lack integrity and loyalty, and are not genuine; we need to find new friends.)

Healthy competition is good, and fun, and is ALWAYS done in good spirit. If it's not fun, if the humor has left, if it's taken seriously, if it's in arrogance or mean-spirited, if people are being assigned "VALUE" over one another, then it's not healthy anymore.





When children display these One-Upmanship behaviors, we call it "immaturity".




When adults display this, we still call it "immaturity".

Feeling Trapped

Feeling trapped in one's situation, in one's "station" in life, in one's JOB, in one's TOWN, in one's "lot in life",  are symptoms of Narcissistic abuse and oppression.

  • I'll never be anything more than _________.
  • I am trapped in this job, I can't quit, I won't be able to make it.
  • I will always be broke and struggling.
  • I could never be one of those happy people.
  • I am afraid to leave this relationship, home, or town, and be alone.
  • I am afraid to make changes in my life, things will just be worse.
  • Things will not get better for me, I just keep getting older.
  • There's nothing I can do. 
  • I am too overwhelmed to help anyone else.
  • No one truly cares about me, and I doubt anyone ever will.
  • If only I could win the Lottery, I will have a good life. If I could have enough money, I would make everything better.
 
These are all signs that we have been influenced by someone with Narcissism traits or the actual disorder, or are currently being influenced, or both. Typically there is more than one involved, which  helps to mask the behavior and treatment, and make it seem "normal".

Believe it or not, we can make the changes to make our lives better. We don't have to win the Lottery to do that, and that might be hard to hear, but it's real. Think about it~ if the only way you could be happy is if you won a huge amount of money, that means you feel an urgent need to escape. Escape what, exactly, and why is it so difficult to make things better where you're already standing? There's a real reason for that. The first step is simply looking at where we are standing, and what is really going on around us. It's not hard to spot Narcissism once we read some descriptions of it, and once we know what's going on, we won't be bamboozled by it anymore. Awareness is, literally, power.

Some good websites on Narcissism and healing:

http://www.winning-teams.com/recognizenarcissist.html

 http://www.melanietoniaevans.com/

 http://www.narcissismcured.com/

  http://www.afterpsychotherapy.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/After-Narcissistic-Abuse-There-is-Light-Life-Love/114835348601442?ref=ts&fref=ts

 https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sanctuary-For-Awareness-And-Recovery/288544867923285?ref=hl






Narcissism Looks Like This

The single biggest difference between a Narcissist and a Non-Narcissist is how worried they are about BEING a Narcissist. A person who is afflicted will dismiss the concept altogether, as if it's Poppycock... or, dismiss the idea that they could have it... or, completely deny having it... or, dismiss, vilify, oppose and devalue anyone who talks about the disorder or supports abuse victims. (A Narcissist also may devalue abuse victims/targets in general. This contributes to their denial issues, since most Narcissists were actually victims of some form of abuse at some point.)

If a Narcissist sees a list of traits, they will pick through them and find the ones that don't apply, and use those as evidence that they are NOT "Narcissists".
A NON-Narcissist will read the same list, and recognizing a couple in themselves, will immediately feel a twinge of worry that they have the disorder, and worry about what kind of problems they have been causing or how they have hurt others.
A list of Narcissism traits, if he or she reads it at all, will invoke emotions like annoyance, defensiveness, or anger for a person with Narcissism.

Narcissists rarely go to therapy for any reason at all; they won't go to help themselves, and they will rarely go for or about someone else. They don't care about the afflictions of others, they don't try to learn about them, they don't try to understand them, they don't have any interest in helping them heal. The only reason a Narcissist will go to therapy is to get a counselor to agree with them about what's wrong with another person, and to try to get the counselor to agree that they are a victim of this person, and that this person is truly the "problem" in everyone's lives. They can't conceive that there is more than one person involved who is contributing to the issues and problems, the "blame" has to lie squarely on one person's shoulders, and NOT on their own, at all. They have to remain blame-free at all costs in their own minds.
 Another excellent website, with traits and tests : How To Recognize A Narcissist

Paranoia: Your Boundaries, Your House

An increased level of Paranoia can be a symptom of Narcissistic abuse. It can be a symptom of just being around Narcissists for any length of time as well. Most people tend to forget that "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you" is actually true. When we start to lose our confidence in our instincts about our own safety, we can become paranoid because our natural boundaries "alerts" aren't working well. When we trust our ability to DISCERN whether a person is neutral, benevolent or malevolent, we have no need for extra suspicion.

We don't normally assume someone is doing something to betray or hurt us with very little evidence, because we don't have fear that we'll be tricked. BUT when we keep having to deal with specific people who DO try to trick us, of course our level of suspicion is going to increase. When we keep having to deal with specific people who treat us like we're naive, stupid, or below them in some way, of course we will increase our suspicion levels. When we betrayed over and over, when we are disrespected repeatedly, when we are lied to, stolen from, ridiculed, or backstabbed over and over, our natural, NORMAL response would be to increase our level of vigilance, raise our boundaries, and be more watchful and suspicious.

This turns into "paranoia" when we find that we have lost trust and confidence in our OWN abilities to keep ourselves safe.

Our boundaries are our natural borders, the "lines" that keep ourselves within ourselves, and keeps the rest of the world OUTSIDE. We are who we are, and we know this when we have healthy boundaries. Other people are who THEY are, and we know this, too. We are like houses unto ourselves; what is within our house walls is safely inside. What is outside is clearly outside, and not inside. We can open the doors and windows when we so choose, but we can CLOSE them when we so choose as well; we are the sole proprietors, the owner, the person in charge. WE ALONE are in charge of when those doors or windows open and close, and what we have indoors. Everything inside our house is ours alone, and we are completely in charge of all of it. No one else is, no one. When we want to invite someone "in", we decide if they are allowed only in the yard, or on the porch. Someone we feel comfortable with because they have shown they are trustworthy, we might let in to the foyer. Someone else we trust we might invite to sit in the parlor for tea. A person we really trust because they have EARNED our trust over time and with their actions, we might invite in to spend time with us.

When we deal with people who don't RESPECT our natural, personal boundaries, they cross our lines.
Using our House picture, a person who doesn't respect our boundaries does things like bang on the door, or keep ringing the bell.

They may walk in without being invited, or being let in.

They may pick locks, or climb through windows.

They may act like they are trustworthy enough so that we let them in willingly, and then rob us when we're not looking.

They may come in and insult our furniture, our decor, the way we keep our things, the way we clean or don't clean.

They may come in and insult and criticize the work or projects we have going on.

They may try to rearrange our furniture, or try to tell us we should remodel the kitchen.

They may try to dictate what kinds of pets we should have, or not have.

They may come in, only to verbally or physically abuse us.

They may refuse to leave.

They may try to convince us that we should MOVE OUT of our OWN HOUSE, give it up, leave it behind, and move in with them. They may say our house is not good enough, or safe, or well-built, and that we should not take it seriously.

They may try to convince us that THE HOUSE IS NOT REALLY OUR OWN HOUSE. That we are not the real owners. That maybe THEY are the real owners.

If they have a hard time convincing us of these things (getting us to move out, give up our House, or believe our House isn't good) and/or if they think we figured out what they were doing, they may go outside and tell all the other Homeowners in the neighborhood false things about our House, and about what we do inside, and about who we really are, so all those other Homeowners will start to stare and wonder, and start to behave like they don't want your House in their Neighborhood.

So, if we have been dealing with individuals like this who don't respect our boundaries repeatedly, then we will of course start locking our windows and doors. We will close the curtains, we will install an alarm system. We may find ourselves peeking through the blinds and the peephole at anyone who comes near us (our House).

When our level of suspicion becomes overwhelming, we may start to forget about watching each person separately, as individual people, and we may forget who we are sure we can trust. We may stop going through the process of LEARNING WHO we can trust.

We may become so overwhelmed with suspicion that we start to suspect those who ARE trustworthy, who have shown genuine  respect and care toward us. We may suspect anyone we see coming near our House. We may start to wonder anxiously what others are DOING, what they're THINKING, and WHY they do or don't do things. We may be FEARFUL that they are going to do the same things that the others did who disrespected our boundaries, and look for evidence that they have betrayed us in order to protect ourselves.

Instead of being confident that we know when to open and close our doors and windows, we stop trusting our own judgment, so we lock them all the time. Because we are overwhelmed, we stop believing in our own ability to deal with normal human interaction. We may accuse those who we formerly trusted of being traitors, even if they have done nothing of the sort. In this way, we start to close ourselves in as an effort to protect ourselves, but we don't realize that we have stopped going outside and enjoying the sunshine, and we have stopped our visits and connections with others that were a large part of our happiness.

In order to heal ourselves so we can feel safe, secure, and "normal" again, we need to look to ourselves first. It is helpful to fact-check ourselves, our beliefs, and the actual course of events. Did we create a story about someone that's not true, just to feel right about our suspicious feelings? Are we going over the actual events, re-reading emails, messages, and letters? Are we able to speak directly to the person we're accusing of betrayal, or are we just trying to make ourselves feel strong and safe by bullying them and accusing them?
Do we really want to drive this person away? Or are we seeing how far we can push them? What happens if we push them too far? Why aren't we thinking about how our accusations are affecting or hurting them?
It can help tremendously to go over events carefully from all the different people in our lives. When we become overwhelmed, it's normal for us to need to ground ourselves by objectively reviewing what is really, truly happening, and what has really actually happened.

Our own ability to interact safely and respectfully with others is the key to healing. Being confident that we are the true sole proprietors of our own House, and that we only let in who we want to let in, not who comes banging at the door, or lays on the doorbell, or demands to be let in. Certainly not who tries to get the neighborhood to go along with turning on us. Certainly not who picks the locks or climbs through windows. And we can and should and DO kick out whoever we let in, who bullies us, insults us, or takes our things. We SHOULD NOT try to harm them in any way, ever, and if we need help kicking them out, we should find someone to help us right away. When we feel confident again in our own ability to DEAL WITH ACTUAL trespassers, the right way, we will once again feel confident in our ability to decide who to trust, and how far to let them in.  

Arrogant Therapists and Counselors

"I can see how it happens, how you go from wanting to help others to believing that you are gifted. I have had the privilege of seeing many awe inspiring therapists at work. Their abilities have been absolutely amazing to witness. When a client starts to see positive results based on their treatments, they don't just pay you, they refer others and generally offer praise. If you are not a well grounded individual this can, unfortunately, lead to arrogance."

I concur. Arrogance equals sloppiness and an inability to take in information, especially in human services fields.

Click to read: The Arrogant Therapist

Defensiveness and Innocence

Defensiveness and Innocence

(please do note that the male pronouns used in this article can  be interchanged with female pronouns when the subject is female)

Remember that when we are defense mode, we aren't thinking much about how the other person feels. If we have PTSD from abuse and we feel defensive, we may jump to fight or flight quite easily, and there is not much awareness about what we're doing to the person we're defending ourselves against in fight or flight.


To picture this quickly, if one imagines being chased and cornered by a mountain lion, one's fight-or-flight instincts take over as an automatic brain function. Even the zoologist who is studying the mountain lion will block out his affection for the cat in order to survive. Whatever the cornered person can defend himself with, a stone, a branch, a flashlight, anything, that's what the person will use. Survival is the subconscious's goal when it's completely in fight or flight. The zoologist may remain hopeful that he can scare the cat away, but if the cat keeps trying to get him, he will continue to defend himself whatever way he can. The more the cat tries to get him, the less and less empathy he will be able to hold on to, and the more his fight or flight will take over.

Children who grow up in abusive environments, whether it's from parents, siblings, or others in the area can develop a hair-trigger defensive reaction when they feel any threat. We all knew the kid who had a reputation for flying into a rage and beating up anyone who crossed him;  he may have developed that reaction because he was a target first. (As a child I did always wonder why no one was helping those kids, as an adult I know the answer; hardly anyone cared enough to help, hardly anyone had a clue, and hardly anyone had the guts to stand up to abusive adults, or help one parent get away from the other with the children. Those who did care or try to help could be crushed under the political weight and threats of those who did not.)

 I have known more than one person, like those kids, who was quite proud of their hair-trigger-rage reputation, "I see red, and I can't be responsible for what I do, I can't help myself". The reason every one of those ragers proclaimed this hair-trigger instead of getting help for it was because it gave them something; it served them. It gave them a "bad-ass" reputation so those who had hurt them would be afraid of them (since that's all bullies seem to understand, is who to fear and who they can bully). That same reputation warded off new bullies from hurting them. That reputation also gave them a "warning sticker" on their heads just in case they did have a tantrum and didn't control themselves, people are usually easier on the "crazy guy who can't control himself" for acting that way than a person who has a "Mr. Normal" reputation. ("Mr. or Mrs. Normal" goes to jail, "crazy guy or gal with a hard life" gets put in the psyche ward or released.)

One of the beliefs all these ragers had in common was their belief in their own innocence. They really believed that if someone upset them enough to "make them see red", that they were not responsible or accountable for their actions after that. They believed that because their emotional reaction was so strong, that they could not be held accountable for what they did, and that the person who "caused" them to "see red" was the one responsible for the entire course of events.

They were all stuck in childhood, at the time in their life when they were being targeted by bigger and older people. The child who is being bullied or abused is of course innocent. But because of the intense emotional trauma at the time of these events, the child kept that feeling of being the innocent one defending himself, and made it part of his identity. Not purposely, perhaps, but subconsciously.

As the child grew up, he (or she) kept that identity of "the innocent being bullied" as a protective measure. Most ragers would deny to the death being a "victim", or having "victim mentality", but that's still because they have internalized the "innocent" identity, and they believe that having a 'victim mentality" means a person is weak and manipulative, (because that's what bullies/narcissists TOLD them, in order to brainwash them from telling on them.)

When a person has internalized the "innocent being bullied" identity from past trauma, they can be completely convinced that any time they FEEL something coming from someone else, they are being attacked. Anything that feels like a demand, a command, an insult, an accusation, a humiliation, or a burden on them can trigger their feeling of being bullied or abused, and they can become instantly defensive, and STAY defensive, and stay in the belief that they must defend themselves.

When a person truly believes they are defending themselves against a real threat, their ability to empathize is severely hampered, and even turned off completely. Like a child throwing a pet hamster across the room when it nips his finger, completely disregarding the hamster's life and safety. Some children would not ever do that, but many would~ The ones who WOULD do that often get taught inadvertently that they will not receive consequences for harming the hamster because the hamster bit first. This can lead, obviously, to a skewed belief that "as long as I'm defending myself, I am innocent, and I deserve no consequences for what I do in my defense, and whatever I do is okay." 

To further this, many children who develop this belief also eventually develop methods to magnify and capitalize on being the "innocent one", and it can work well in families with dysfunction and abuse. They may not realize they're doing it, or they may be aware of it on some level, but they usually don't consciously think about it much intellectually, they just keep doing it and testing it, and doing it more.

So the child can end up being the biggest bully in school and get away with it because they have honed their "innocent one" methods so well. In the closed system of a family or school, even sometimes the local community, this child can continue the behavior unchecked for years, because the people are USED TO the same things within the system. But when the child grows up and goes out into the world, or meets people who are not from the local collective, the child will have a hard time with the social interaction skills required to communicate effectively and respectfully, and will probably expect to continue to get away with his "I'm the innocent one" method whenever his behavior is questioned, or when he crosses lines and boundaries.

(Many celebrities have made headlines because of their expectations of being seen as the "innocent in defense of him/herself" when their behavior was clearly abusive and out of line. Even the glare of a world-sized spotlight didn't cause them to stop and think about their actions BEFORE they did it, and since most of them repeated their behavior again, apparently it didn't cause them to think about it AFTER they did it either.)

The consequences of this internalization of being the 'innocent one being bullied" can be far-reaching, and affect many people in the person's life, as well as the person themselves. It can be stopped in it's tracks if it's recognized by the person, and the right combination of healing, therapy and support can lead to recovery, but the first step is the recognition, and the willingness to learn about it.


written by M.M.Black

Objective Opinion...

There is a common perception problem in humans that seems to be getting worse.
Add chttp://flowerpics.net/roses/rose-flower-wallpapers.htmlaption


That problem is believing one's opinion is "objective reality".

In other words, believing that a pretty flower is pretty, period, like it's a fact. Water is liquid, that flower is pretty... When something is "pretty" or "not pretty", it's a personal opinion, not FACT. You could think roses are beautiful, someone else could think they're boring, blase, weird. Neither is "right", because that is not what a FACT is. The rose is a flower, that's a fact. The rose is red, or yellow, or white. Those are not opinions, those are facts. The rose is beautiful is NOT a fact, it's an opinion.

Just like chocolate; some people love it, some people could care less, some people don't like it. Because chocolate is not YUMMY as a FACT, it's YUMMY ONLY to people who find it yummy.

The woman who everyone keeps saying is beautiful is not objectively beautiful; she herself might even find herself unattractive. There are many, many people who will not find her attractive, and there will be many who think she's downright ugly or weird looking. So, being envious of her is just dumb. Same with men. Same with EVERYTHING. The jacket that guy is wearing is "awful" to YOU, but not to EVERYONE. It's not a FACT, it's your personal opinion, that's it. His hair is horrible to you, to someone else it's very attractive. The song you hate is loved by others, the song you love is ignored by many because they don't LIKE it. The singer you think sounds like a dying cat is awful TO YOU, it's your opinion, someone else obviously loves the sound of that singer's voice or they wouldn't be on the radio. It's resonating with someone, just like your favorite singer resonates with you.

BOUNDARIES and DISCERNMENT, two things essential for intelligent Civilization that seem to have been systematically destroyed by ignorance.  

Why The World Tends To Suck

Good relationship and community: Everyone is Royalty, everyone is enthusiastically supported, cheered for, protected and cared for by everyone else. Feelings that predominate are curiosity, enthusiasm, hope, joy, contentment, concern for others, confidence, peace of mind, camaraderie, and love.

Bad relationship and community: Royalty elects themselves, and decides who is not worthy of a seat at the Royal table, and who is. Royalty also elects themselves judge and jury, and sees their opinions as facts, and cannot discern between the two. Feelings that predominate are envy, resentment, judgment, anxiety, fear, jealousy, shame, supremacy, lust, greed, hate, and desire to control. Royalty would rather exact "punishment" than figure out solutions, because it feels like power. Royalty has interest only in their own well-being, and will take whatever they need in order to feel satiated.

"Good" here implies a system that can freely expand, progress, and grow, that remains balanced, which provides every person with opportunity to build upon their own talents and aspirations.

"Bad" here implies a system revolving around a black hole that cannot expand, that is completely out of balance, and that will destroy its own resources and eventually implode.


Only people who can understand basic physics would see why the balance is important. And out of those people, only those who are able to put the balance ahead of their own ego issues really get it. In other words, a physics genius who thinks himself superior, or another inferior, still won't be able to grasp the concept; but a person with an average or lower IQ who can intuitively understand why a seesaw works, or why the planets revolve around the sun, who sees that every person has the same importance as everyone else, will be able to grasp the concept easily. .
Obviously a physics genius who does not have a superiority complex can most easily grasp the concept, it's all about balance and maintenance.

Female "Competition" (Please, pleeeease.. grow.up.already)

Being nice and sweet and super polite to a guy but not behaving the same way to his girlfriend or wife when she meets her; shutting her out, talking down to her, leaving her out of conversation, acting like she isn't part of the "in-crowd" along with her boyfriend/husband... pretty freaking clear signal there. Yeah, that woman IS trying to compete with you for your boyfriend/husband's attention.
And what does it mean when a GUY behaves the same way...trying to get your boyfriend/husband's attention and purposely treating you without common courtesy or respect... hmm... gee, what could it mean...

Government, Politics, Responsibility

Open message to all of us who complain and rant about the government all the time:

If you want people running the government who don't bullsh**, better learn to start learning what the truth sounds like coming out of your own mouth.

You want rights?
When's the last time you stood up for someone else who was being mistreated or disrespected?

You want real respect?
When's the last time you gave it to your wife or your mother? Your brother or sister? The woman at the far desk at your office? The students or teachers at school? The people you see in the store, or on the street?

You want the truth?
How much of it do you share with your girlfriend? Or boyfriend?

You want fairness?
Who's in charge of the money in your household, just you, or does your spouse have an equal say?

You want loyalty?
Yeah, right... do you even know what that means, modern world citizen? Loyalty means actually being loyal to a person, so they don't have to worry about you blowing them off, leaving them alone in times of crisis or pain, cheating on them, turning on them, or backstabbing them.

You want help?
When's the last time you helped someone you didn't already like? When's the last time you helped without expecting a reward, recognition, or payback?

You want equality?
How are you treating ALL the people in your life?

You want accountability and responsibility from the people in the government?
How are you at taking responsibility for the way you treat people? For the way you behave, and the example you set? How much accountability do you take for the problems in your life, and in your relationships? Is it ever your fault? Or is someone "always blaming you" but you're completely innocent all the time...or nothing you do is that bad...Or "the kids all know it's out there anyway, why hide it"...
Or my favorite... it's not my problem, why should I do anything about it...

We don't GET what we aren't willing to GIVE.

The government is just people, just like you and me. How are we gonna hold them up to higher expectations as human beings than we hold ourselves to?

And how are we going to judge the crap they pull against the crap we pull every day?

WHY do they hurt people? Compulsive abuse

Compulsion is a powerful thing. We humans all have compulsions, it's part of our operating system. It's one of the built-in things that keeps us alive. We are compelled to do things so we don't have to consciously remember to them; we feel hungry, we put food in our mouth. We breathe, we seek warmth when we're cold, we seek shelter, we shut our eyes when something blows in our face. Our involuntary nervous system keeps our heart and our lungs pumping. We sleep, not because we want to, but because we have to. So we do it.

Then there are the compulsions that we all have, that don't really rate as "necessary for survival". An obvious and common one would be drinking coffee in the morning. Another common compulsion that many do, and most would like to stop doing, is cigarettes. Many people have compulsions with certain food. We can feel compelled to keep the kitchen clean (that's not the same as choosing to clean it.) Compulsions about how to hang our clothes, about the way we drive to work, about our clothing, about our teeth, about how much or how often we practice or work on something. We can have compulsions about pretty much anything.

All it takes for a compulsion to stick is some kind of reward that our brain and body can feel. If the thing made us feel good enough at the time of doing it, it can become a habit, and a compulsion. "Feeling good" as in a chemical reward, like a small adrenaline rush. Or a squirt of Oxytocin (the so-called love-chemical). Or an Endorphin rush.

Most people are aware of how some people have a compulsion to cut themselves. This is another compulsion that produces a chemical reward for the person doing it. It may be hard to understand, but that doesn't matter, it's still real, whether some people want to understand it or not.

So it stands to reason that if human beings can get a chemical reward from harming and causing pain to themselves, then it's not hard to see that human beings can get a chemical reward out of causing harm and pain to others.

People who have compulsions often desire stopping, and can have a very hard time doing so because the compulsion is so strong. Their subconscious wants that reward very strongly, and has ways of "tricking" the person into performing the behavior that produces the reward. Anyone who's ever battled a food, cigarette, or drug addiction can attest to that, and of course the actual chemicals that ingesting them produces makes the compulsion stronger. But doing something that has no external chemical reward can be just as hard to break, because the brain and body itself is producing the chemical reward. Gambling too much, for example. Driving too fast. Playing video games too much. But even non-obvious things like cleaning, working, or exercising can become compulsions, and produce the same chemical reward as any of the other examples. A person with a cleaning compulsion can become very upset if kept from their behavior, and can also become demanding and controlling toward others in the household who "interrupt" or "thwart" their obsession with cleaning, or with the house being clean (clean in THEIR OWN eyes; a person with a cleaning compulsion/obsession can cross personal boundaries and actually rearrange and even destroy another's personal space. Like any other addict, their feeling of reward becomes more important than the people around them.)

So, if a person has developed compulsions, in other words behaviors that give them a reward-feeling, and those compulsions happen to include causing pain to others, then it can be understood more readily why they do it, why they keep doing it, and why they don't seem to care.

So if little Scotty gets a charge out of pinching his brother, he is going to want to keep doing it. If he is not guided enough to thwart the charge he gets out of it, the reward will feel greater than the consequence. "I feel good when I pinch my brother, and I know of no good reason not to continue getting that good feeling."

A compulsion in the making.

If Scotty learned the pinching from one of his parents or another older relative, the odds of the pinching developing into a compulsion increase dramatically. Scotty sees no consequences for the older people, so in his mind, it must be something that's "okay" to do, even something that "adults do". So, no reason to stop. And, if Scotty is being pinched by older relatives, then him pinching his brother is most certainly giving him a feeling of relief and control. In such a family dynamic, empathy and care for others is not being taught, modeled, or rewarded. So... Scotty feels little or no reward for empathy or care for others, but he is feeling rewards for pinching and harming.

We can take the pinching compulsion and apply it to any behavior.

Common compulsions like this can be domination of others, controlling others, criticizing others, countering, opposing, name-calling, projecting, lying, hitting others, causing humiliation to others, causing trouble for them, backstabbing, sabotage, etc. General bullying behavior.

Compulsions that take the form of "good behavior" can also be controlling and dominating. A parent who got a feeling of reward from keeping their baby clean, for example, may hold on to that behavior and keep trying to perform it as the child gets older, instead of allowing the child to care for him or herself. The parent refuses to relinquish the act of cleaning the child because it gives the parent a feeling of reward, regardless of the behavior being unhealthy for the child.

Being told to stop doing a compulsion can feel and sound like judgment, domination, condescension and control. "You need to stop smoking" ... "You need to stop drinking coffee"...  "You need to stop spending" ..."You need to stop taking cleaning so seriously" ... "You need to stop treating people that way"... 

Since compulsions feel like something we need to have as a normal thing (any coffee drinker can attest to that), the behaviors do not want to be dropped by the person's subconscious. And the less awareness a person has, the less the person may even be aware of the behavior at all. Generally, we don't like to think about our compulsions, whether they're big or small, because the part of our brain that wants to keep them is quite defensive, and doesn't want us to expose them.

If we react defensively to something someone says about our behavior, or human behavior in general, that's a flag that is probably marking something we are hiding or protecting.

In summation, WHY do abusers keep hurting people, controlling people, trying to dominate people? A likely answer is that they are compelled to do the behavior, because it gives them a chemical reward. And compulsions are not really conscious choices, they are usually buried by the subconscious, in order to hide the whole thing from the person's conscious mind. We all have them, but some of us have much more harmful ones that may have developed in childhood. Harmful to ourselves, harmful to others.We usually only stop our compulsions when we notice they exist, notice they are doing harm, and still only then if we feel remorse, worry, or fear.

PSYCHOPATHS

There are people who seem to be quite aware of their harmful behavior to others, even of their very harmful compulsions, and because of their disorder actually seem to feel completely entitled to continue their behavior with full awareness. That would be an actual psychopath ; human beings and any other living things hold no innate value to them, other people might as well be made of clay or stone to them. But most people are not psychopaths.
For example, a non-psychopath with a drug problem that causes harm to their children may try to stop, have a hard time with it, may wrestle with it and still cause their children harm in the throes of their addiction, but they truly feel remorse. A psychopath with the same drug addiction that causes harm to their children does not care about the harm they are causing to their children. If they do manage to get their addiction under control, it won't have anything to do with guilt or remorse about the children, it will be solely to enhance their own lives. And no, they don't get that their children are part of their lives.

So why don't they stop, if they're not a psychopath?

 
Some people really do seem to have a lower natural capacity for empathy, or even comprehension of other people, and the fact that they are just as real and important as themselves. Others seem to have a higher capacity for comprehending others. Like any other human ability, some people have more of it, and some have less of it. But the less a person can comprehend that other people are "real people' just like themselves, the less likely they are to be aware of the harm they are capable of, or the harm that they inflict. And therefore, will be less likely to get a handle on their compulsions.

If I don't really think my sister is an important person, than I'm not going to think it's important to stop causing her pain, or to support her when others cause her pain.



M.M.Black



Abandonment Hurts

Abandonment and abuse go together, because abusers use abandonment as a weapon.
~"If you don't allow me to treat you however I want, behave however I want toward you, then I will retaliate and punish you with abandonment; I will take away the most important thing, which is human connection. And I will twist everything around to make it seem like the abandonment was your fault for "misbehaving". I am Higher Status than you, and therefore entitled to treat you however I want, and if you protest, you will be abandoned and ostracized. And to prove how High Status I am and how Low Status you are, you will see that no one stands up for you."

(Most people who use abandonment and ostracism as a weapon learned it in childhood, either by watching it being done to others by adults in their lives, or being done to themselves, so there is a little room for compassion for someone who does this. But compassion does not equal allowing.)

WHY does it work?!
Why does it work on us, even when we know what's going on?!
Why do we feel the pain of abandonment, when the person doing the abandoning is only doing it for reasons of bullying, and we know it?

It works because we are human beings, and we are supposed to have human connection, it's part of our make-up. Abandonment causes pain just like anything else causes pain, no matter who is doing it, or why. If we burn ourselves on the stove, it hurts just the same as if we burn ourselves at a campfire. Certain things hurt, regardless of how they happened.

When someone does something to cause us pain on purpose, then there is the added pain of that, of being purposely hurt by someone we cared about. If we get kicked accidentally in a soccer game, it hurts physically, but if we get kicked by someone on purpose, there is naturally more feeling attached to the basic pain from the kick.

Our brain goes on automatic alert when someone uses abandonment and ostracism as a bully tactic. Our brain is our security system, and it knows much more about human behavior than we do consciously. When we are abandoned or ostracized, if our brains are in working order, it switches focus to protection of the self, and to figuring out what's going on.

Protection of the self is the brain's highest priority, and it already knows many possible reasons why a person would be abandoned, and what the many possible dangers could be.

When we are abandoned, our brain goes on alert because it knows we have just lost an apparent ally. Allies protect us from danger, whether we live in a city surrounded by potential criminals, or in the outback wilderness surrounded by potential predators. Allies rescue us FROM danger as well. Allies also help us out of day to day problems, as we do for them, and give us a feeling of security, just by being available in case something should happen.

Other people being aware that we HAVE allies keeps gossip, slander, and sabotage at bay, much, much more than most people realize. When others see a person as belonging to a group of allies, they are much more likely to treat them with respect, because they see the person not just as one sole social reject, vulnerable and easy prey... but as one of many, one of a crowd who will protect that person.

The kid who sat alone at lunch was the kid who was picked on, BY the kids who traveled in packs. The woman at the bar alone is the one who gets stared at, and the one a predatory jerk will approach first. Two parents are treated with more respect by school staff than a single parent. Politicians surround themselves with VISIBLE "allies" purposely, so the world sees them as "likeable" and "respected". Celebrity "image makers" create facades of having a larger fan base than they really do in order to get attention and respect from onlookers. Business people even often create facades of having more people working for them. Lots of businesses are named things like "Two Brothers" or "Five Guys" or "Merry Maids" or "H&R Block" or "McKinney & Son", all implying that there are more than one. A group, a concordance, an ALLIANCE. You can "buy" friends on MySpace and other social networks to make you look more popular, if that didn't matter then no one would do it, never mind pay for it. If you look up law practices, you will find hundreds of firms listing multiple partners as the "name" of their practice. Even medical professionals have taken up the habit of practicing WITH allies, other doctors, veterinarians, and psychologists.

EVERYTHING is easier and better if one has ALLIES, and if the world SEES YOU as having ALLIES.

Nearly every human brain is subconsciously aware of this fact, because that's how we evolved. We are group animals, and our subconscious instincts compel us to live within the safety of a group.

SO, abusers USE this natural, normal compulsion to belong and to keep connections we have made as a weapon AGAINST other people, to keep them in control.

This is also a big reason why so many people treat "Free Spirits" and "Free Thinkers" like they're crazy, rogue, or loose cannons; they are upset and frightened by a member of the larger group who seems to be unafraid of losing their status of Belonging by not conforming to whatever the current Status Quo is.

ALSO~ Allies are our friends; they make the connections with us that make good times happen. We are subconsciously aware of this, even if we don't think about it consciously. When we feel the sting of abandonment, we also automatically feel the pain of loss. The loss of a friend. Even when the person was abusive more often than not, the good times registered as "Friend" in our subconscious.

And... when someone is using abandonment to punish us, our brains are also aware that this person is not trustworthy or loyal, and has the definite potential of actively trying to get OTHER people to abandon us as well. This is a real FEAR that can be triggered in our brains, because group/social animals like us are in immediate danger when we are left alone in the wilderness. To understand this, we can picture ourselves as a member of a small tribe, not all that long ago. If our tribe abandons us, exiles us, we literally are alone in the wilderness, surrounded by predators, all kinds of biting insects and parasites, and exposed to the elements. Humans don't have fur, so exposure is a real problem for us. Abruptly having to survive on our own means actual imminent danger for any human, even the "toughest". We have to find our own food every day, cover ourselves every day, sleep (how, where, without getting bitten or attacked?), keep warm every day, drink fresh and uncontaminated water every day. We have to make our own fire, and keep it burning, all by ourselves. All this, and no one to help, no one to watch our backs, no one to talk to.

Our brain is also aware, even if we are not, even if we refuse to admit it, that this kind of total abandonment happens even in the most sophisticated cities, in the wealthiest countries. It can, in fact, happen to anyone. Even if we don't believe it consciously, our subconscious knows that it's possible.

So, even when the person who is using abandonment as a weapon is someone we thought we didn't want to deal with anymore, our subconscious feels the sting, the loss, and the automated fear response. That's why it hurts, and that's why it works on us, even when we're aware of what is really happening. The good news is, the more awareness we have, the less it will work on us, and the easier it will be to recover from the effects.

~~~ An important sidenote regarding the perception of abandonment~ those of us human beings with certain emotional dysregulation "disorders", can perceive that someone is abandoning us, when they are actually not; we really need to spend time taking apart what the other person is actually doing. Sometimes we feel like we are being abandoned by people who are behaving perfectly normally, often due to things that have happened to us in the past. For example, going to work is not abandonment, spending time with other friends sometimes is not abandonment; needing space to work on something is not abandonment. Not wanting to eat at a certain time, or food that was prepared, is not abandonment. Turning down an invitation occasionally is not abandonment. Having to go do other things is not abandonment, being on the phone with other people is not abandonment. Having success in one's career or aspiration is not abandonment either.  
We can figure out what abandonment is and what it is not, with a few tools we can learn to use, and calm information gathering.
ALSO, upholding one's healthy boundaries against abusive, inconsiderate, deceitful, demanding, demeaning or controlling language and behavior is not abandonment.

The following links may help to find ways to understand what abandonment is and what it's not, and why we may not know the difference. A good therapist, counselor, or healer can also help in sorting this out.

 http://www.helpguide.org/mental/parenting_bonding_reactive_attachment_disorder.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_8648917_handle-abandonment-issues.html

http://lifeesteem.org/wellness/wellness_boundaries.html

http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/dbt_lessons.html

by M.M.Black

Control And Judging Others

When someone with Control Issues sees a person acting  confidently, they often assess the person in their mind to be "someone to follow", "someone to engulf", "someone to dominate", "someone to shut out", or "someone to shut down".

They don't seem to know that they are not entitled to do any of these things to others. A lack of awareness of boundaries, of their own and of others, is a common denominator.

Since the Controller personality believes their own assessments of others right from the get-go, based on very limited "parameters" and very little information, they often act immediately on their assessments. 

This is why bullies pick on certain kids, and often end up getting their teeth knocked out. Their assessment of the other kid was incorrect, because their confidence in their assessment of others is much, much higher than their actual skill.

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

There are those in our lives that we often wish could know the way we truly see them in our hearts.

They seem to behave in such a way that shows they think us naive, or dull, or dimwitted, to see them as such brightly shining lights.

They seem to feel annoyed that we are not fixated on the dark armor they try to cover their light with.

They don't understand, I suppose, that their light is not of their own making, and the armor and weaponry they keep wielding can not cover it up, or put it out.

They also must not understand that their light is infinitely more powerful than any darkness, and has the power to burn away the pain and heartbreak if only they would stop kicking dirt on it, and wearing armor to blot it out.

They must not understand basic physics either. When we shine on and share our light with the light of others, and help them to shine, and protect them from dirt-kickers, we shine brighter and brighter ourselves, and the whole life we are living in gets brighter, and warmer, and brighter still.
(In a parallel circuit, more power is provided to the lights. Power = V2/R . The resultant resistance of the circuit is lower, and the potential difference is not divided as in a circuit in series. Thus, lights in parallel burn brighter.)

We often wish they could see themselves through our eyes, perhaps they would see that it is safe to take off their armor, put down their weapons, and shine with us.



Angry Arrogance; Happy Humility



Arrogance argues when it doesn't understand. 
Humility listens longer, eager to learn what it was missing.
m.m.black

Relationship Conflict

Our relationships can be a source of great joy, fulfillment, and support, or they can cause terrible pain and become major obstacles in our lives. We tend to get caught up in the swirling emotions whether they seem positive or negative, and whether we are male or female, or young, old, or middle-aged. Most of us seem to believe we are much more logical, aware, and rational, and much less emotional and reactionary than we really are, to boot. We all seem to think that we are the ones who are right, innocent, and justified, and that we are the ones who deserve better treatment, more consideration, and more attention.
 

What if one day we suddenly stopped trying to get more FROM others for ourselves? What if we could step out of time and space, and look at our relationships from the outside, like a scientist looking in from an observation window?
 

We can do that to a reasonable extent, if we have as much emotional and mental stability and logic as we seem to think we do.
 

We can ask ourselves certain questions about our own true intentions and motivations. We can ask ourselves questions about actual events, and about our behavior and words.

We can also ask ourselves about what the other person actually did, and what they really said.

We can ask ourselves if we honestly know all the "facts", or if we just assumed much of them (we humans usually assume much more than we actually know).

What we can NOT know is how the other person really felt, or what their intentions really were. We can NOT know WHY they did something, or did not do something. We can NOT know about their own feelings or thoughts unless they tell us out loud, directly, and THEY can NOT know what our feelings or thoughts are either, unless we TELL them directly.

Things to ask yourself when your relationship is in conflict:

1. What exactly was happening before the most recent conflict in my own life? Was I upset about anything else, anything else AT ALL, before the conflict happened?

2. Was the other person dealing with something else that may have upset them, anything AT ALL?

3. What was my real, true emotion? What was the very first feeling that I felt?

4. What were the actual events that transpired? Did I ask calmly and respectfully for more information, or did I jump to react to my emotion instead?


4. What am I really, actually trying to accomplish with this conflict? What goal do I have in mind? What is it that I'm trying to make happen?
(There is always a goal and a motivation, sometimes it just takes a moment of focus to see it in our own mind.)

5. Which person honestly began the conflict? 

Which person turned their focus from information to emotion? From straightforwardness to deceit? From calm clarifying to assumption? From cooperation to control? From sharing points of view to domination? From action to reaction? From respect to disrespect?
From friendship to fault-finding, blaming, and shaming?

6. If someone I admire had done to me exactly what I had done, would I truly and honestly have not felt hurt or betrayed? Can I really say that?

7. If I was the one who did something deceitful, provoking, controlling, or hurtful, what exactly was my real motivation behind it?

8. Why would I be looking to hurt or deceive a person with whom I choose to be in contact with? Am I trying to prove something to myself? To them? To others? What?

9. If I feel compelled to do disrespectful or hostile things toward another person, why am I remaining in contact with them? What am I getting out of it? Is it right, noble, or good? If it's not, how have I come to this low point?

10. If someone is doing hostile and disrespectful things toward ME, why am I remaining in contact with them? What am I getting out of it? What is my motivation?

11. What have I honestly done to contribute to this person's well-being and improvement of their life and happiness? How often do I go out of my way to put their well-being and happiness above my own?

12. How far have I gone to prove that I was right and they were wrong? Did I have their well-being in mind when I was doing that?

13. Do I seriously believe it's okay to speak to them with aggression, hostility, and abusive language or physical displays? Why would I do that to another person?

14. Do I willingly and happily seek ways that I may have been wrong, or mistaken?

15. Is my real goal to restore peace, good will, and happiness for BOTH, not just for myself? Or am I just seeking a rush-feeling of vindication, retaliation, and triumph over another person?

16. Do I actually listen to the other person's point of view, or do I just believe I'm Sherlock Holmes and think I know everything about the other person's actions and motives without even trying to find out?

17. How do I react when the other person calmly asks me questions? Do I perceive any and all questions as accusations and attacks? (If so, I'm hiding something; what is it?)

18. Do I feel innately superior to this person, but I don't want them to figure it out so I can keep manipulating them?

19. What is my true intention with this relationship?

Is there a possibility that I really want to be the controlling person in this relationship?

Is there a possibility that I don't want to be committed or loyal to this person?

Might I have resentment toward this person that I didn't address?

Does this person remind me on some level of someone else, either someone I resent, or someone I admire?

Am I afraid of this person?

Am I using this person for loneliness relief?

Could I be using this person as a gopher, a sidekick, a little sister or brother, a work-horse, a crutch, a shield, a magnet?

Am I envious or jealous of this person; their charisma, their money, their looks, their family, their success, their intelligence, their talent, their possessions, their happiness, their friends?

Is there real truth in my heart, mind and soul that I have this person's well-being as my priority? Or is that really just something I tell them, and tell myself?

20. How much effort am I willing to put into this relationship, and do I expect the other person to contribute more than I do?
Do I honestly see one of us as more important than the other?
Do I really believe the other person is less capable than I am of contributing equally to the relationship?
Do I seriously feel entitled to receive more than I contribute?
WHY, on all counts?

21. How would the other person feel about my answers to these questions? How do I feel about my answers?

~If you have read through and answered all the way to the end, congratulations, and you may be well on your way to better boundaries, and better relationships. Conflict resolution skills are one of the keys to good relationships between human beings, and those skills are useless if we are not using them inside the realm of honesty. Honesty with ourselves, and honesty with others. If someone is not being honest with us, it is our responsibility to ourselves to strengthen our boundaries and remain aware and alert. And we need to keep in mind that hostility is not necessary in a healthy environment, ever, but truly caring about the well-being of all, for real, is absolutely essential. 


We don't have the "right" to lash out at another when we feel pain, fear, or betrayal. But we do have the right to ask for more information, in order to clarify events, thoughts, and feelings. And we should always ask ourselves all of these things as well.

Don't Dim Your Light

"Don't dim your light because someone else complains you're shining in their eyes. Ignite. Set your soul on fire."
~S. Sonnon


"Why are you even wasting your time with this hobby? It's not like you're ever going to become a champion. You don't even have enough money to get a real teacher. You're not going to figure it out on your own reading books and practicing by yourself. And let's be honest: you're not the most genetically gifted person. Shouldn't you just accept what you're really capable of and make the best out of the hand you've been dealt?"

"The words of a former close friend burned deeply, as I stood at my beginning. In his mind, he was being a critical realist because he cared. And I truly believe that he did have my best interests in mind. He was wrong to let his fears cloud his words, but he did care.

"Twenty five years later, I'd be voted one of the 6 most influential martial artists of the century for sharing the lessons along my journey to find great teachers, who allowed me to see my true potential in the clear reflection of their lucid waters. If I had never started, if I had given up anywhere along the way, I would not have been able to surround myself with those who would lift me up toward my own dreams, rather than hold me down under their own fears. More importantly, I would not have had the opportunity to let my teachers insights influence so many through my writing and speaking.

"Don't let someone make your sky into a ceiling. Climb and soar. You are only confined by the walls you have been building for yourself. You decide when you've had enough growth, success and abundance. Only you. Don't let others blame your situation on family, friends, genetics, government, enemy, job, boss, skills, money, geography, or condition. Blame darkens. Accountability illuminates. Don't dim your light because someone else complains you're shining in their eyes. Ignite. Set your soul on fire.

"The more, through their choices, others drift from their own truth, or the longer their fears keep them ignorant of it, the more they will hate you for speaking yours; the more they will try to hurt you for doing what they're afraid to do; and the more they'll try to climb over each other, like crabs in a bucket, when they see you escape your self-imposed limitations. Others will broadcast your failures yet whisper your triumphs. Listen to your internal signal, not the external noise.

"Live by choice, not chance. Make changes, not excuses. Be motivated, not manipulated; useful not used. Have self-esteem, not self-pity. Share autonomy through accountability, and freedom through personal responsibility, not confinement by blame and enslavement by self-entitlement. Don't let others ensnare you into wearing the cynical countenance with which they've insulated their perception of their own potential. Emancipate yourself with the courage to go ALL the way absolutely alone, if you must. And everyone will benefit from your example; for the success of one us realizing their dreams, benefits all of us realizing our own.

very respectfully,
Scott Sonnon
www.facebook.com/ScottSonnon
www.positiveatmosphere.com
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