Thursday, June 7, 2012

The Language of Letting Go: June 7th

Into Orbit

It doesn't matter if they're hurting themselves. It doesn't matter that we could help them if they'd only listen to, and cooperate with, us. IT DOESN'T MATTER, DOESN'T MATTER, DOESN'T MATTER, DOESN'T MATTER.
  —Codependent No More


I think I can change him. Nobody's ever really loved him and appreciated him before. I'll be the one to do that, and then he'll change. . . . She's never been with anybody trustworthy before. I'll prove how trustworthy I am, and then she'll be able to love. . . . Nobody's been able to get to her, to conquer her, before. I'll be the one to do that. . . . Nobody's ever really given him a chance. . . . Nobody's ever really believed in him before. . . .

These are warning signs. Red lights. Red flags. In fact, if we're thinking these thoughts, they need to be stop signs.

If we have gotten hooked into believing that somehow we will be the one who will make the difference in someone's life, if we are trying to prove how good we can be for someone, we may be in trouble.

This is a game. A deception. It won't work. It'll make us crazy. We can trust that. We're not seeing things clearly. Something's going on with us. It will be self-defeating.

We may be "the one" all right - the one to wind up victimized.

The whole thought pattern reeks of codependency, of not being responsible for oneself, and of victimization. Each person needs to do his or her own work.

Nobody in the past has really understood him. . . . Nobody has seen what I see in her. . . . It's a set up. It sets us up to stop paying attention to ourselves while we focus too much on the other person. It takes us away from our path and often puts us in orbit.

Nobody has appreciated him enough. . . . Nobody has been good enough to her, or done for her what I can do. . . . It's a rescue. It's a game move, a game we don't have to play. We don't have to prove we're the one. If we're out to show people we're the best thing that ever happened to them, it may be time to see if they're the best thing that ever happened to us.

We have not been appointed as guardian angel, godmother, godfather, or "the one who will."

The help, support, and encouragement that truly benefits others and ourselves emerges naturally. Let it.

God, help me let go of my need to meet dysfunctional challenges in my relationships. 

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

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In my mad quest to fix everybody else, I managed to forget MYSELF.  What led me to believe I had the power to rescue anyone?  To be 'the one' to change someone else's life, when my OWN life sat by the wayside, neglected & ignored??

When I look to change another, that's when I have to look within, and decide why I'm thinking dysfunctionally.  All I can do is work on ME.  If my ego is THAT big, insisting I can change someone else's life, then I have much work to do recognizing my character defect and ridding myself of it.

Ego will ruin me every time. Humility keeps me focused and grounded.

If I set myself up to fall by appointing myself as guardian angel & saviour, I am going to wind up feeling victimized when my efforts fail *not 'if', but 'when'*.  That will lead me to want to punish myself with food.  I am a failure, after all, so why bother doing ANYTHING 'right'?  Go ahead and eat eat eat, you deserve to comfort yourself. 

For today, I will not put myself into a position of being anyone's godmother.  For today, I will not be a pawn in the chess game of co-dependency. 

For today, I will live MY life to the best of my ability, and rejoice in the knowledge that I'm responsible for nobody's happiness but my OWN.

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