I've been rereading this thread after many months and find I am seeing things very differently from the first time. I have focused on the childhood wounding and how it has affected me and particularly how I react/respond to others. It is more painful to look honestly at how I have wounded others in my relationships with them. I've been learning about self-compassion and it is giving me the strength and objectivity to be honest about just how much the predator in me feeds. I was the scapegoat of the family and was fed upon by everyone. But I also learned how to feed on others by not honouring their boundaries, manipulating to get something back, giving without being asked and then being angry and resentful when the result was feeling used.
It is freeing to start to e see the part I have played in my own dramas but I think the difference I am experiencing, I realize as I write this, is that I feel the pain of hurting others, rather than the shame programming that locked it up inside. It's wonderful to be able to see the predator/programs running, to see them for the programs they are, take responsibility for my life, without blame and ask who I am underneath all of these programs. Understanding that this dynamic has been carried on throughout my life out of ignorance and now I have choice, each moment, is SUCH a relief! Learning really IS fun!
Thank you again for this thread, the forum and the information so readily available.
It is freeing to start to e see the part I have played in my own dramas but I think the difference I am experiencing, I realize as I write this, is that I feel the pain of hurting others, rather than the shame programming that locked it up inside. It's wonderful to be able to see the predator/programs running, to see them for the programs they are, take responsibility for my life, without blame and ask who I am underneath all of these programs. Understanding that this dynamic has been carried on throughout my life out of ignorance and now I have choice, each moment, is SUCH a relief! Learning really IS fun!
Thank you again for this thread, the forum and the information so readily available.