“I know people who love to be victims, they are sad and depressed or angry and always blaming others. Do you want to know what keeps them stuck? They won’t use their personal power to make things happen.”
This quote came from a book that is at least 30 years old called “Understanding Yourself and Others,” by Linda V. Berens. Throughout the years I have found it to be so true. We often confuse being victims with a victim mentality. All of us have at one time or another been victimized by something or someone. This could have come from a prank, verbal attack, or some form of abuse. None of that type of behavior is acceptable. Some individuals have been violated in such a way that it leaves a much deeper wound.
I’m not intending to belittle victims. My hope would be that no one would become a victim. Despite my hope, this life seems to present us with times when through no fault of our own, we are victimized. It can be overwhelming and frightening. What I want to illustrate in this post is that although we can’t always choose whether or not we are the victim of something difficult in life, we can choose not to adopt a victim mentality that keeps us stuck in depression and anger.
At some point, anyone who wants to get their life back must choose not to live the victim mentality. Living the victim mentality means you choose only to see the negative of the undesirable event and you surrender to the circumstances as a helpless, powerless sufferer. That is not a place anyone likes to be. We all can feel sad, depressed, or blaming and angry when we have been victimized through no fault of our own. But we don’t have to permanently dwell on those feelings. When we get stuck, always being sad and or depressed or angry and always blaming others, we lose our ability to do and be what we want to be. We revictimize ourselves by letting our emotions of hopelessness, powerlessness, and anger keep us stuck. We can be who we want and do what we want when we take back our personal power and become strong.
There is always some lesson to learn, some silver lining to find in any situation. NLP helps you overcome any trauma that may have been caused so you can let go of the victim mentality and resolve the many overwhelming feelings associated with it. Letting go of the victim mentality allows you to use your personal power again and gives you permission to seek the silver lining in your life. Personal power allows you to take responsibility for yourself and your actions, which enables you to move forward. It is a state of being able to be who you are meant and want to be. That is powerful! Use your personal power and choose to reclaim your life back. Let’s work together to resolve those issues that are keeping you from being your best self.
