Do you secretly love being a victim? 😭

The ego is very tricky... Dear friend, How many of us secretly love our "problems"? How many of us unconsciously enjoy identifying as victims? These are very difficult questions to answer honestly. Most people's immediate reaction would be, "NO! Of course not. I didn't ask for this. I want to be rid of my problems." Do you really, though? The ego mind is quite crafty, and when we begin to examine 'victim mentalities,' we can see that there is a certain kind of incentive to continuously identify with our pain / 'problems'... Eckhart Tolle addresses this in [The Power of Now]( when he writes: "The ego... is always seeking for something to attach itself to in order to uphold and strengthen its illusory sense of self, and it will readily attach itself to your problems. This is why, for so many people, a large part of their sense of self is intimately connected with their problems. Once this has happened, the last thing they want is to become free of them; that would mean loss of self. There can be a great deal of unconscious ego investment in pain and suffering." Tolle points out that people often construct a sense of self, a sense of identity, around their problems, and thus freeing themselves of their problems would actually cause a crisis of identity. Who would I be without my suffering? This egoic attachment to one's "problems" leads to many people perpetuating their own problems or manifesting new similar drama repeatedly, so as to reinforce their familiar sense of self. It's also key to note that there are emotional payoffs one gains by viewing oneself as a victim. Most notably, if you view yourself as a poor victim of the universe, you get to avoid taking responsibility. You also get to mope around and feel sorry for yourself; you feel justified in complaining / telling your sad story to others continuously to garner sympathy; you feel justified in subtly exploiting others' kindnesses for your benefit because you feel life has been unfair to you; you get to resentfully criticize other people who are succeeding at things you would secretly like to do, and you get to tell yourself they're just 'luckier' than you. In a number of sorta twisted ways, playing the victim feels good. It makes a lot of things easier. For a while at least. We shouldn't kid ourselves about this. A lot of people claim they want to be free of their "problems," but in actuality they are deeply invested in viewing themselves as a victim and receiving the emotional payoffs and pseudo-security of identity that comes with doing so. I should note that this is perfectly okay. It is as it is. This is simply one interesting way human nature is expressing itself at this stage of our evolution. However, there are a couple good reasons one might want to transcend a victim mentality: 1) It's tiresome and ultimately corrosive to your dignity, integrity, and sense of meaning in life. Endless self-sabotage has its payoffs, but eventually you wake up one day and realize you've squandered a lot of precious time and energy feeling sorry for yourself, rather than exploring the wondrous and beautiful potentialities of your existence. 2) We are arguably at a point in our species' history at which we need to take ownership of our lives, on both an individual and collective level. Humanity is being summoned to level up to a state of greater wisdom and skillfulness, as our current trajectory is unsustainable. This begins with you and I taking responsibility for our minds and lives. To begin shedding residual victim mentalities, simply start experimenting with taking full ownership of your life. Realize that you are constantly creating your own reality. You have made your own choices, and you have the power, if you wish, to create an entirely different sort of reality. No one can 'make' you suffer emotionally unless you, on some level, allow them to. You are the sovereign master of your domain. You are the sculptor of your reality. This may be frightening at first, but it's also deeply empowering. To go deeper, read '[12 Life Tips & Secrets to Dramatically Improve Your Existence]( or take our [self-liberation obstacle course](. Love, Freedom, Peace, Joy, Jordan Bates Carl Jung once observed, “The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.” We created [30 Challenges to Enlightenment]( to help you do this. To become the strongest, wisest, and most honest expression of yourself. As you know, taking action is hard and scary. It’s much easier to cling to what you know, to what is stable and comfortable. And yet, on some level, you realize that the treasure you seek cannot be found in your familiar routine. You’re reading this because you want something more: Adventure. Authenticity. Confidence. Purpose. Enlightenment. Whatever it is you’re seeking, your well-worn patterns can’t get you there. They can only bring more of the same. And that’s why we created this epic course: to break you out of your old patterns—to give you room to become a stronger, wiser, more heroic version of yourself. One of the most powerful aspects of this course is that it is divided into six unique quests, which are based on the stages of enlightenment described in the Zen tradition. The quests form a natural progression toward self-actualization and spiritual realization, providing meaningful direction to your journey. This is just one element which sets it apart from everything else out there. Each quest provides another stepping stone to increasingly liberating perspectives, greater awareness, and more enlightened states of being. Our aim was to create a kind of “PhD in self-development.” The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche understood the utility of temporary challenges as well as anyone, and he was one of our greatest inspirations in building this course. Nietzsche recognized that in order to become stronger and wiser, it was necessary to overcome yourself—to leave behind your established ways and paradigms. Nietzsche thought we should engage in perpetual self-conquering, regularly transcending our current conditioning to become something more. In pursuit of this end, he developed the idea of a “gymnastics of the will”—a practice of undertaking temporary experiments of willpower, with the intention of strengthening, mastering, refining, and deepening our being. Friedrich Nietzsche understood that our conditioning runs deep. Even if you admit that you want to change your life, it’s damn difficult to override your habitual programming. The solution to this problem, for Nietzsche, was to regularly attempt a variety of life experiments—experiments that would push one to act contrary to one’s conditioning. If we could just make a habit of attempting life-transforming challenges, Nietzsche thought we would unearth our own greatness, that which lies beneath our conditioning, and become resilient masters of life. Courageous souls delight in transcending limitations and becoming their Higher Self, not merely dreaming of doing so. And they are rewarded. They unearth the hidden jewels of human existence. They manifest a life that aligns with their Highest Excitement. Are you such a person? Will you accept the call to become what you are? [I ACCEPT]( Copyright © 2019 HighExistence, All rights reserved. You signed up to receive the top 5 top-voted posts daily from HE Our mailing address is: HighExistence 40 E. 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