The topic is Victimhood. What is a Victim? A dictionary defines a Victim as “someone who experiences misfortune and feels helpless to do anything about it.”
Many people in our society seem to exhibit Victim behavior – feel helpless. They seem to have an attitude of “why me”? “What did I do to deserve this”? Why this Victim attitude? Could it be the overwhelming nature of their lives – lost in big cities, ignored by the big government, failed by big organized religion, separated from family, not having roots? Could it be because they are so busy “doing” they don’t take time for just “being”? Could it be they have forgotten or never learned how to be happy, be grateful or be of service? Or could it be something else?
Suppose people who exhibit Victim behavior don’t think they have any control over their lives. They believe things just happen to them. They don’t understand that everything they do is the result of both their conscious or unconscious choices and actions.
Once people realize they have and make choices, they begin to understand they do have control over their lives. They have POWER. So being a Victim or being Powerful is about conscious choice. Being a Victim is about failing to take responsibility for choices made consciously and/or unconsciously. These choices result in no power, very little control and poor outcomes.
Unconscious forces govern most of our choices (e.g., our political view, our religion, our culture, our upbringing, our peers, our self-image). Most people make a few choices consciously. Most people run their lives on autopilot and wonder why they are not at the desired destination. Most people do not even know where they want to go.
Responsible,consciouspeople realize every moment of every day is about choice. One can make a choice or let some outside force choose. But make no mistake about it, a choice is made every moment of every day. There is no way to avoid choice. Even not choosing is a choice.
Understanding everything in life is about choice, we can begin to build a different experience. Build a better life, a life where we choose what we want and not the life given to us by birth circumstances.
Is this conscious choice easy? Absolutely not! It’s risky! It’s scary! Once we cross the river of conscious choice, we can never turn back for we know there is no such thing as a Victim. There are only people who make poor choices, are not happy with the outcome and blame someone else for their life.
President Harry Truman took responsibility for Victimhood with the attitude “the buck stops here.” Note he did not place responsibility over there or with someone else. Here! He took responsibility.
So live your life by the Truman philosophy of “the buck stops here” and take responsibility for all the choices that form your life. Take a risk. Choose what you want to be. Choose to be happy. Choose to feel good. Choose to be healthy. Choose to be successful. Choose to be a productive citizen. Choose to be prosperous. Choose to make a difference in the lives of others too. Choose World Peace.
Always choose consciously and take the risk. It’s not as risky as you may think. Things will always work out for you in the best possible way at the best possible time!
Try it. You’ll like it!