Voicelessness and Emotional Survival > What Helps?

Some Buddhist thoughts

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mum:
Hey, GFN, I don't check this too regularly either, but I think we are on the same page with this.  Happiness is a choice, and it is a feeling , which is internal, so it is always within our control.  Needless to say, this is the ultimate in humanity's struggle, for we need certain conditions for us NOT to be in survival mode all the time.  But for those who have been victimized or voiceless/powerless at one point, the "line" or "boundary" we need to set to NOT accept abuse is difficult to ascertain.  So, in a way, it's harder to be "happy" when we feel certain conditions (like not being abused) are keeping us in survival mode.

When I think of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi,  Martin Luther King and even Jesus, I think of souls who have made an overt decision to keep boundaries while here on this earth  and not deviate from thier good intentions regardless of the outward circumstances handed to them (because of those beliefs!!).

It's about transcendance, ascension, (sp?).  We are human, however, and even Jesus lost faith from time to time (his sorrow in the Garden before his death comes to mind).  So what if we fall face flat into the mud and say:  "oh, Man! I'm HERE again?"
It's inevitable.  It's the human condition. How long we stay in that mud is what it's about I think.  Getting up, saying, "oh well, that hurt like heck" and STILL mvong through life with loving intention and faith that love really IS what matters....that's what happiness is all about.

Everything is fleeting.  We are all on changing ground...nothing is permanent.....not even happiness.  But knowing what happiness feels like, and knowing what unhappiness feels like gives us this choice every time we get pushed into the mud.
I am currently covered in mud, but it is starting to dry and flake off....and my skin will be georgeous because of it (like that analogy?)

Anyway, thank YOU for getting me to get "out of myself" today and think about higher things (than my current "troubles").

missm:
I consider Pema Chodron and Alice Miller to be my "double-barrel" approach to dealing with the lingering effects of being raised by a narcissist.  Pema has a wonderfully down to earth way of interpreting Shambala Buddhism, one that I think is easy for a westerner to understand and practice.  Both are wise, compassionate women  who understand the difficulty and rewards of being authentic and self-aware.

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