Are we really responsible for everything that happens to us? Traditional religion would make us feel this way.
I will never forget one of my up close and personal experiences working as a counseling intern at a rehab hospital back in 1995. I was attending to an elderly woman who had suffered a stroke, when she turned to me and said, “What did I do to deserve this?”
In that moment I realized the flaw in most of our thinking:
Most of the really BAD things that happen to us in this lifetime are NOT our fault.
Bad parents, a bad upbringing, terrible unexplained illnesses, abuse, accidents, bad marriages, these are just a few of the many misfortunes we may suffer. And there seems to be something inside of most of us which tells us we are to blame for all of it.
The first step in getting past this useless blame game is to realize how little we do control in our life. Feeling responsible for things we do not control is the definition of CRAZY MAKING.
I have also found that spending your life blaming yourself and others is a waste of time and life. Blaming yourself for a failed marriage will not change you or your situation. Instead spend that time deciding how you want to be different in your future.
Can people really change? Of course they can, but only if they really want to. I am living proof of that! How does change happen?
How could you let go of all of your blame and shame today, and change the way you see yourself?
Are we really responsible for everything that happens to us? Traditional religion would make us feel this way.