Hero's Journey: Fear of Success, Self-Sabotage, Change

[sKePTiKal]

Found this while digging for more clues... and it reminded me of "us" - those of us healing in this place.

http://www.guesswhatnormalis.com/guesswhatnormalis/2007/11/self-sabotage-a.html

THE HERO'S JOURNEY

If you want to discard your fear of success and self-sabotage, then you must embrace your life's journey. The hero's journey is an old, archetypal description of life's path. (It's also a developmental dramatic arc often used for movies and novels - Star Wars and Lord of the Rings.)

The stages of the hero's journey are:

The Ordinary World
The Call to Adventure
The Refusal of the Call
Meeting with the Mentor
Crossing the First Threshold
Tests, Allies, Enemies
Approach to the Inmost Cave
Ordeal
Reward (seizing the sword)
The Road Back
Resurrection
Return with the Elixir

Your present life is the Ordinary World.

If you commit to starting and finishing a project, that is your Call to Adventure.

Your Refusal of the Call will be self-sabotage, the part of you that wants to talk you out of the idea. Addiction is one form of self-sabotage. Addiction prevents growth - that is textbook self-sabotage. It's scary to change because it can feel like abandonment, so addicts choose to keep using instead.

Once you meet someone (or read something) that causes you to reconsider your journey (or project), you will have had your Meeting with the Mentor.

Once you successfully get past a tremendously difficult aspect of the project, you will have met and Crossed the First Threshold.

Along the way there will be Tests (events or people (including yourself) that test your steadfastness), Allies (folks who help you toward your goal), and Enemies (folks who try to distract you from your goal). One "test" could be your old self testing your new self, in the form of perfectionism (a precursor to self-sabotage). Many ACoAs are perfectionists. The need for something to be just right, perfect, paralyzes us. The need for something to be "perfect" before it's finally done derails us. It is a distraction. It prevents us from starting projects (because they won't turn out perfectly) and it prevents us from finishing projects (because they don't match up with our perfect vision).

Your Approach to the Inmost Cave is both a personal insight, potentially life-changing, as well as a reaching of a certain point of no return.

At this point an Ordeal may come, in which your project or goal will be in some sort of jeopardy. But because you are steadfast and because you have made a personal discovery, you are not going to be prevented from your path at this point.

Your Reward is either the reaching of your goal or completion of your project, or an unexpected but incredibly fortunate surprise.

The Road Back is your journey back towards the "home" from which you began the adventure.

Your Resurrection is the creation of a brand new self - you have been deeply affected by your journey and goal-reaching. This is your new identity revealing itself to you, and the world.

The Return with the Elixir is your reaching "home" and sharing your journey, new self, and 'helpful message' to others based on your new understanding and adventure.

That's success - transformation.