December is Emotional Abuse Awareness Month. Make a difference in 2016. Every life matters. You matter. Get help or seek help for another. Stop the cycle. Make a difference to that ONE!
Do You Know What I Know?
December is Emotional Abuse Awareness Month for Creative Tidal Wave. I have been asked why I chose to feature this and my reason for doing so this particular month. There are many reasons, both personal and business wise. I found during the holidays often folks show their best side but will quickly in the shadows turn and unleash upon victims. It is difficult for emotional abusers, narcissists, and bully types to maintain their “charming” disposition during the holidays without a means of releasing their torment to regain their balance. Also, I wanted people to start a new year with new awareness in hopes to start identifying and getting help for family and friends who might be victims. Abusers need to be identified as well so they, too, can seek help.
Do you know what I know? Well, I do know some ways you can stop the chaos in your head from being a victim of emotional abuse. First though, please seek professional help from a counselor or a life coach. The process towards healing can move faster with professional help.
When the inner voices of your tormentor/abuser play in your head, take a moment to rethink. You are now aware that the things they said to you were to control you and to take your inner power away from you. You know you are not those terrible things. Rewrite the words into a positive. “You are so ugly, no one will ever marry you,” to “I am beautiful both inside and out with a heart full of love and compassion. I will find the person of my dreams someday.” The power of positive thinking is magical.
You did not ask to be abused. This person came into your life by no fault of your own. Now you can chose to move on and consider this a learning experience on how to recognize the words which cause pain. We cannot chose our parents, coworkers, bosses, and family members. Sometimes our friends and significant others change after they have gained our trust. It is okay to walk away. Hard it maybe, but necessary to gain your life and health back. Change your path’s course. Be brave and take a hike to freedom.
After you dismiss the abusers from your life, I know it is hard, set boundaries. They will try to win you back over. DO NOT FALL FOR THEIR CHARMING WAYS! You do not need to travel back down their path, rarely do they change.
It’s YOU time!! Rediscover old hobbies. Take time to rediscover you. Emotional abusers instill fear as a means of control. Go out and face your fears, try something new. Healing comes the more time you focus on rebuilding your self esteem and empower yourself. Trying new things! Let out old emotions and illogical fears embedded in your mind by the abuser via the arts. Dance out your anger! Paint out your frustrations! Write a poem about the empowered you. Write a book. Sing songs of happiness and write some about your sadness. Hey, you may have a hit in the making. Country music is full of them. And, Taylor Swift has made a fortunate each time she breaks up with a guy. You just never know so give it a try.
The most important thing is to move forward. Leave the abuser behind you. If you struggle with leaving, get help. Don’t walk on eggs shells any longer. Chose to run in grassy fields free from the torment. Look for local hotlines to call if you need help. Ask friends and other family members to help out. Tell your doctor. Seek help.
If you know someone who is being abused emotional and verbally, please step in to help.
This is part three in a four part series on Emotional Abuse Awareness, the Silent Killer of souls.
Do You Hear What I Hear?
“Don’t be so sensitive.”
“Well, life isn’t fair, get over it.”
“Let’s stick to the facts.”
“You’ve got it all wrong.”
“I never said that.”
“You can’t do anything right.”
“Can’t take a joke, can you.”
“You owe me.”
“What did I ever see in you?”
“You will never amount to anything.”
“You just want all the attention.”
Fatso, lazy, good for nothing, stupid, idiot, worthless, loser, dummy, ugly….
Do you hear what I hear? Are these phrases and words heard everyday in your life? Is someone who is supposed to love you use these words daily?
We might have used one of these phrases a time or two in our lives when we were angry or upset. It happens. Abusers and narcissists use them daily and repeatedly against those they abuse and try to control. These phrases and words over time become like strikes against the mind and heart of the one being abused. These words are absorbed, cataloged and filed into the memory of the abused to be replayed over and over. The abuser tries to demean, insult, criticize, break down, pick apart, by use words instead of physical means to destroy any means of self-worth and self-esteem their victim has. The abused then also becomes their own worst nightmare with the replaying of these insults anytime they attempt to do something. Abusers want to make sure the abused does not stand up for him or herself. The abuser wants the abused to believe he or she is the true problem. The abuser wants to control as well as be worshiped.
The abuser wants the abused to beg for their love. They want the abused to be so controlled the abused thinks of nothing but the abuser, as in how to please, how to honor and cherish to prevent from hearing such hurtful words. The abuser wants to control all thoughts so the abused will only trust the abuser. The abuser may show love and compassion from time to time, they will make it conditional in such a way the abused feel he or she must earn the love.
Emotional abusers do not leave bruises, they leave deep scars. A victim may only reach out for help once. Please listen and respond.
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, “do you hear what I hear, ringing through the sky, shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear?”
December is Emotional Abuse Awareness Month for Creative Tidal Wave. Please catch the wave next week for more information.
The Silent Killer
The month of December will focus on understanding and identifying emotional abuse. Many suicides and preventable health issues are manifested from people being abused. I see everyday, people who struggle with ADHD/ADD and/or dyslexia, being victims of emotional abuse. Such challenges seem to be magnets for emotional abusers. I am not certain why but there is definitely a trend, or at least in my neck of the woods.
Some of the ways abusers use are guilt trips, shaming, and bullying. The main focus is to belittle and strip the abused of their empowerment and self worth. Many dyslexics and ADHD/ADD sorts are pleasers. They enjoy helping others out and keeping a balance in the world. This also keeps balance in their world of chaos. Emotional abusers take advantage of the opportunity for their own personal follies and gain.
Each week I will hopefully enlighten you on emotional abuse. Hopefully, you are not a victim. If so, I hope to offer information on how to get help. If you know of an emotional abuser, my wish is that you will learn ways to avoid being a victim as well as ways to rise above. Over the years I have witnessed many talented and brilliant people who’s spirit and self worth were devalued and crushed due to emotional abuse. Some took their relief seeking to an extreme while others are almost nonfunctional. This is preventable. We need to educate ourselves on recognizing and preventing this silent killer.
It just takes one person to stand up and fight. It takes just one person to save a life. Every life is valuable, none should suffer in silence. Be that one voice to speak out. Be that survivor. Be the one to come to someone’s rescue. Make a difference.
Castles Built in the Sky
Do you have big dreams folks have told you were unattainable? Does dreaming the impossible seem impossible? Are your dreams so lofty you need to hop a ride on Pegasus to get there?
Think my original castle was being constructed somewhere near the planet…star…whatever it is now, Pluto. It was such an unheard of dream. It was a concept so foreign yet very needed but no one was quite sure how to interrupt it. I bet creator, Gene Roddenberry, of Star Trek series had the same experience in 1966. Can you imagine the idea of flip phone communicators, voice activated computers, and the GPS being introduced in the 60’s? Totally rad science fiction but the reality is, in 2015, some of those way out scifi devices are now old news. Gene Roddenberry’s wild imagination of high-tech gadgets and gizmos are common everyday things we use now. I doubt he thought toddlers would have handheld iPad like devices found on the Enterprise. Dream he did! Maybe his imagination sparked some young watcher to bring those neat devices to us today.
There will always be dream snipers. Their words and negative reactions can be like an atom bomb exploding a dream into zillions of micro particles becoming space dust. But like in Star Trek and Star Wars, you can create defense shields. There is a learning curve and timing involved. The number one dense is to surround yourself with positive folks who believe in you. During a massive negative lasts you can seek affirmation and encouragement. Yes, use that communicator device to relay your need with a faster than light response! Use symbolic objects to remind you of your dream. My two are lighthouses and starfish. I also read, The Star Thrower, by Loren Eiseley almost daily to remind me why my dream is so important.
Remember, your dreams are yours, no one else should take those from you. My castle dream on Pluto is now in Carrollton, Georgia. Few believed it would ever find roots on the planet Earth. Many moons ago I told a friend of mine that by the age of 50 I wanted to see my dream come true. It is a week from my 51st birthday so I am still within the 5-0 timeline. Thank you, positive believer friends, Loren Eiseley, lighthouse, and starfish for being my deflector shield all these years.
Scooby Doo, where are you?
Where did he, Bugs and a few other great cartoon characters go? I sure miss the cartoon friends I grew up with. I have tried to watch the latest cartoon sorts but none bring the giggles and belly laughs I got from those from the 1960’s and 1970’s. I remember laughing a lot on Saturday mornings when I woke early just to catch the cartoon runs because they all disappeared shortly after lunch time. I want those days back.
You know, there is nothing wrong with adults watching cartoons. There is comfort in revisiting those TV friends who taught us more than we thought at the moment. Also they brought is comic relief. You know laughter is the best medicine. I truly believe that is true. In fact, I suggest to my Life Coaching clients they revisit their favorite cartoons. Yes, they might be a bit cheesy now but overall, they still make us laugh.
Life today is full of stressors. Take a few minutes when you are down or stressed beyond belief to youtube or Netflix or whatever means you have access to for some laughs. I promise it will change your outlook a bit.
Eeeeeeh, watch me paste that pathetic palooka with a powerful, pachydermous, percussion pitch. – Bugs Bunny