Lilly was shocked when she realized her husband and two of her three adult children were making her life miserable by doing the same thing. The pain and anguish, the bullying and abuse had finally broken through her resistance to seeing people she loved as narcissists who enjoyed tormenting and torturing her.
She was damned if she did what they wanted and damned if she didn’t.
No matter what she did, it was never right and it was never enough. Their demands changed in a moment, usually escalating. Everything was her fault. She was never good enough as a wife and mother.
The problem was not that they didn’t understand how hurt she felt.
No matter how she explained and tried to teach them about kindness, love, caring and good character, they ignored her. She had no voice because they didn’t listen. The shock was seeing that they enjoyed her frightened, bewildered look; her frustration and tears; her walking on eggshells.
The problem was that her flesh and blood, and the husband she’d accepted in a sacred ceremony enjoyed torturing her; enjoyed her pain; enjoyed the power and control over her.
Suddenly she stopped thinking it was her fault; stopped feeling guilty.
She used to think, “I must not be communicating clearly enough, they must not understand how hurt and angry I am, I must not be able to set boundaries, I must not be good enough, I must have been a bad mom.” And “If I give in, they’ll leave me alone. If I resist, they’ll attack me worse.”
Now she realized nothing she did actually made anything better or worse. Whenever they wanted, they’d always find logical reasons for torturing her and blaming her.
They were choosing to torture her and she must choose to ignore how they thought and felt.
She chose to stop caring about their opinions. She was a decent person and she did know what was right and wrong. She could trust her gut. She felt her own power over herself. And she began to do what she wanted.
They complained and heaped blame on her.
With a laugh, she accepted all their labels of “bad mom, bad wife, selfish, uncaring.” She did have real consequences they didn’t like every time they threw temper tantrums or tried to jerk her around with their reasons for being angry. And she stopped trying to make their lives easy and convenient by enabling, caretaking and being their servant.
She was amazed how free she felt. And how they changed in reaction to her filling her life with joy.
Of course, there are many complications depending on your situation. The best way to learn how to take power in your life and to be the person you want to be is to hire Dr. Ben for personalized coaching and counseling so you can:
- Develop the strength, courage, will and determination to be and to act your best resolutely, diligently and effectively.
- Develop a plan and master the skills necessary to create the life your spirit has always hungered for.
Since all tactics depend on the situation, call me at 1-877-8Bullies for expert counseling and coaching by phone or Skype.