Ann

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go

Removing the Victim

Don't others see how much I'm hurting? Can't they see I need help? Don't they care?

The issue is not whether others see or care. The issue is whether we see and care about ourselves. Often, when we are pointing a finger at others, waiting for them to have compassion for us, its because we have not fully accepted our pain. We have not yet reached that point of caring about ourselves. We are hoping for awareness in another that we have not yet had.

It is our job to have compassion for ourselves. When we do, we have taken the first step toward removing ourselves as victims. We are on the way to self-responsibility, self-care, and change.

Today, I will not wait for others to see and care; I will take responsibility for being aware of my pain and problems, and caring about myself.

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

Ann

At some point in my recovery, I stopped seeing myself as a victim and began feeling more like a survivor. The difference, for me, what a matter of focus, and when I began to focus on the solution (my recovery) my world became a better place.

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