POWER:

There is one feeling we need to pay
particular attention to in recovery:
feeling victimized. We do not need to
become comfortable with that feeling.

How do we feel when we’ve been
victimized? Helpless. Rageful.
Powerless. Frustrated.

Feeling victimized is dangerous.
Often, it can prompt us into addictive
or other compulsive behaviors.

In recovery, we’re learning to
identify when we’re feeling
victimized, when we are actually
being victimized. And why we’re
feeling victimized. We’re learning to
own our power, to take care of
ourselves, and to remove ourselves
as victims.

Sometimes, owning our power means
we realize we are victimizing
ourselves – and others are not doing
anything to hurt us. They are living
their lives, as they have a right to, and
we are feeling victimized because
we’re unreasonably expecting them to
take care of us. We may feel
victimized if we get stuck in a
codependent belief, such as, Other
people make me feel … Others hold
the key to my happiness and destiny
… or, I can’t be happy unless another
behaves in a particular way, or a
certain event takes place.

Other times, owning our power means
we realize that we are being
victimized by another’s behavior. Our
boundaries are being invaded. In that
case, we figure out what we need to do
to take care of ourselves to stop the
victimization; we need to set
boundaries.

Sometimes, a change of attitude is all
that’s required. We are not victims.

We strive to have compassion for the
person who victimized us, but
understand that compassion often
comes later, after we’ve removed
ourselves as victims in body, mind,
and spirit. We also understand that
too much compassion can put us
right back into the victim slot. Too
much pity for a person who is
victimizing us may set up a situation
where the person can victimize us
again.

We try not to force consequences or
crises upon another person, but we
also do not rescue that person from
logical consequences of his or her
behavior. If there is a part that is our
responsibility to play in delivering
those consequences we do our part –
not to control or punish, but to be
responsible for ourselves and to
others.

We try to figure out what we may be
doing that is causing us to feel
victimized, or what part we are
playing in the system, and we stop
doing that too. We are powerless
over others and their behavior, but
we can own our power to remove
ourselves as victims.

Web Stores:

eCrater - http://wrhmcp.ecrater.com/

Police Registry - http://www.wrhmcp.com
Atomic Mall - http://www.atomicmall.com/wrhmcp

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/shops/wrhmcp

Webstore – http://www.wrhmcp.Webstore.com

Bonanza - http://www.bonanza.com/booths/wrhmcp

eBay - http://www.ebay.com/