There
is an illness on this planet that is silent and yet it is loud in its
silence. It is called victimhood. I extend being a victim to mean anything
that we hold onto that exists outside of
ourselves that we use to keep from moving forward in life and getting
internally strong. It can be just about
anything. It can be another person, circumstance,
thing, situation, illness. It can even
be our own selves; our attitudes of perfectionism or feeling of not being
enough, etc. It can be anything or anyone. Many times, we may not even realize we are
being a victim to something/someone. It can
be a silent killer, zapping our energy from being the dynamic truth of who we
really are. Perhaps most people exhibit victim behavior,
but because we have limited its meaning, we may not notice it as a detriment. Once we see and take responsibility for
victim behavior, we can change. We can
free ourselves from blocked energy and embrace life instead.
Animals,
especially those on factory farms of agribusiness, also exhibit victim behavior. They have victim karma. They want freedom, they want to be happy,
just like all of us, but they are victimized by human greed and ignorance. Perhaps factory farm animals suffer more than
any of us. What can we do when we feel
for these animals but don’t know how to invoke change? We can look at our own selves. There is a direct correlation between the victim
thinking/feeling/behaving of humans and animals that suffer. We are all connected. We are all part of a whole. No one is really separate in this world, even
though it may appear that way. We are as
interconnected as the slices of an orange, touching each other in a
sphere. Our world is part of the whole
world. Our lives are affected by what
happens in the whole. All energy is
continuous and we are a part of this continuum. Therefore, animals that suffer are directly
related to our own suffering.
A
powerful way to heal is to look within ourselves and remove what no longer
serves us or the greater good. If we
look closely, we may find all sorts of victim behavior. We might blame anything and everything for
the reason we are not where we want to be or who we want to be. We may also be in denial of this
behavior. We may feel like we are not
enough and so use fear as an excuse to not break out of our limitations to move
forward. We may be perfectionists that
are always preparing ourselves to get ready as a way to procrastinate. We may feel we have to constantly improve
before we make a move. Or, we may
compare ourselves to others and never take that first step forward. They are a myriad of ways that we use being
victim to stop ourselves from fully living.
When
we are willing to really look at ourselves truthfully, we can see that most of
us are victim to something outside of ourselves. If we hear ourselves complain about anything,
that is a sign that victim consciousness runs the show.
But
how do we help animals that are suffering?
When we look deeply at our own victim behavior and do something to
change that allows us to feel better about our lives, then we help
animals. Since we are all connected,
what we do to heal ourselves is reflected in the whole world. One less victim, one more healed, whole,
happy person makes a difference for all of us.
We
need to see that if we are allowing external phenomena to affect us negatively,
then we are not being part of the solution for world peace. Each contributes to the whole. When we are actively, consciously, allowing
ourselves to flourish by healing our victim parts, we affect everything and
everyone.
Instead
of feeling hopeless and helpless about the animals in slaughterhouses and
factory farms living a horrible fate, we can diligently do all we can do to
heal our own selves. We have to be
brave to be able to look honestly at how we are being and what we are doing
that does not contribute to, not only our own happiness and wellness, but that
of the entire world as well.
Inner
strength means that we have taken the journey inward to become part of the
solution and are no longer contributing to the dense negativity of the
planet. If we live in this manner,
cleaning what does not serve a higher way of being, then we are actively
contributing to the healing of the entire universe. We are, inadvertently, helping the animals
that are victims by releasing our own victimhood. We are moving from victim to Victory. We do this for ourselves, we do this for
others and we do this for the animals.
When
enough of us remove the victim way of being and free ourselves from being less
than our true magnificence, we evoke a change for all. I implore you to look deeply within, to
remove and clean out what no longer serves and to emerge as a conscious, healed
being that is part of the solution. When
you commit to this endeavor, you pave the way for others, including animals, to
follow. We owe this to ourselves, we owe
it to others we share this planet with and we owe it to the animals that need
our strength and power to emerge shiny and new into a world of love and
light. Looking at the face of an animal
in a slaughterhouse is enough reason to begin this inward healing journey
now. Become a part of the solution,
heal thyself.
defines four ways that people
are in relationship with one another. All are attempts to control another’s
behavior.