Today we ask that you know you are not a victim.
Most humans identify themselves as victims, in one way or another.
They are victims of poor parenting.
They are victims because they do not have enough money.
They are victims because of their culture and society.
They are victims of illness and disease.
They are victims of addiction.
They are victims because of their race, gender, or sexuality.
They are victims because bad things happened to them in the past.
Really, there is no human alive who cannot claim to be victimized by something or other.
People are victims even of the weather. It is too hot, it is too rainy.
When you listen to human conversation, the subject is usually victimhood.
Whenever someone complains, it is because he believes he is a victim.
People are victims of the government, and corporations.
People are victims of their genes.
Why do humans do this as much as they do?
Mainly, because victimhood is the ultimate defense mechanism.
Most people live life as if they were in a courtroom. Religious people tend to believe that God is the Judge in this courtroom. They believe they are rewarded and punished based on their “life record.”
Such beliefs are so deeply ingrained in humans, that even atheists walk around fearing the Great Judge. Only they do not call it God. Even so, it is the same energy, alive in their consciousness.
So what is the ultimate defense in this courtroom?
“It wasn’t my fault, Judge! There are extenuating circumstances! Really, these other people are to blame! Everything else is to blame! But not me!”
Claiming the Victimhood Defense makes people feel a kind of safety. It is a very miserable sort of safety, at best; and of course whatever safe feeling they feel by claiming victimhood is always fleeting. Because when you’re a Victim, you’re constantly living in fear of further victimization — which is sure to come.
If you identify yourself as a Victim, then it is guaranteed that you will feel victimized by life. Not a day will go by that you don’t feel victimized.
How could anything be different? If Victimhood is your identity, then all your experiences will tend to reinforce your belief that you are a Victim.
What’s more, if Victimhood is your main defense against the Great Judge, whether externalized as “God” or internalized as the Inner Critic, then you will actually seek out and cultivate experiences of victimhood.
You will dwell on your victim experiences like an attorney gathering evidence for a case. Your victim experiences are your defense, so you’ve always got them at the ready in your mind — ready to wave them at the Great Judge.
Some people who worship Christ falsely perceive that Jesus was a Great Victim. This is a total misinterpretation of the story. Christ was in no way a victim. All action was undertaken in full consciousness, by choice. So please do not believe that your faith asks you to emulate Christ by identifying as a Victim.
There are many races, religious groups, tribes, and sects whose collective identity is strongly rooted in Victimhood. They seem themselves as persecuted peoples with a tragic history of extreme suffering. This is perceived as giving them a kind of specialness — an extra line of defense against the Great Judge.
It can sometimes even justify very questionable actions: “We are Victims, so it is our right to act violently toward those who would oppress and persecute us! The Great Judge cannot condemn us for this!”
Listen carefully.
You are not a victim.
No matter what has happened to you, you are not a victim.
No matter who you are, you are not a victim.
One of the most crucial steps you can take in your existence is to stop identifying yourself as a victim.
This means taking full responsibility for who you are, right now in this moment.
This is always a frightening place to come to, initially. When you drop your Victim identity, you feel naked and exposed before the Great Judge. The Great Judge suddenly turns on you, shouting: “If no one else is to blame, then it is your fault!” It can sometimes feel that you are going to be annihilated.
If you sit with this, and do not resist, the storm will pass. And a miracle will happen.
You will not be annihilated by the Great Judge.
You will actually begin to wake up in this life. The “Great Judge” in your mind will lose all its power.
When you stop blaming and complaining, when you stop attacking even the weather for making you miserable, when you stop saying to the world that you are a poor, helpless Victim of this, that, and the other…
… then you will begin to act as a conscious being. Owning your life. Owning your choices.
This is not meant to negate or minimize traumatic experiences.
But many people live out their whole lives from trauma. The trauma may have happened fifty years ago, but they are still living it every day. Because they identify as Victims, and that identity gives them an illusion of safety from the Great Judge, even as it keeps them stuck in misery.
Most humans, if you observe them, operate from Victimhood. Ask them how they are today, and they will tell you about their Victimhood. They do not know any better.
They assume that everyone is a Victim, just like them.
This is especially true of people who engage in predatory behavior. Since it is a dog-eat-dog world, they will be the Victim who victimizes other Victims. But even if you ask the big predatory bully how he is doing today, he will be sure to tell you what a great Victim he is.
Once you step out of it, it is fascinating to observe. It is like the whole of humanity is under a spell in which everyone believes he is a Victim. It doesn’t matter if he is rich or poor, male or female, young or old, liberal or conservative. It doesn’t matter what race he is, or where he lives in the world. Everywhere you go, people identify as Victims.
What would happen if you stopped doing this? Really stopped doing this?
Well, for one thing, you would stop experiencing life through the lens of Victimhood.
You would be free. And freedom is a very scary thing, for anyone who has lived as a slave.
But it is also the most incredible thing that can happen to any human.
Just becoming conscious of all the ways in which you and others perceive yourselves as Victims can be very illuminating. It is the first step toward liberation.
wordfromthewell 