[Daily OM]: For better or worse, many people
have been raised to believe that communicating in an honest and open way
will not get them what they want. They have learned, instead, to play
mind games or go on power trips in the service of their ego's agenda.
People stuck in this outmoded and inefficient style of communication can
be trying at best and downright destructive at worst. We may get caught
up in thinking we have to play the same games in order to defend
ourselves, but that will only lead us deeper into confusion and
conflict. The best way to handle people like this is to be clear and
honest with them.
As with all relationships and situations in our lives, we must look
within for both the source of our difficulties and the solution.
Reacting to the situation by getting upset will only entrench us more
deeply in the undesirable relationship. Only by disengaging, becoming
still, and going within can we begin to see what has hooked us into the
mess in the first place. We will most likely find unprocessed emotions
that we can finally fully feel and release into the stillness we find in
meditation. The more we are able to do this, the less we will be
bothered by the other person's dramas and the more we will be free to
respond in a new way. In the light of our new awareness, the situation
will untangle itself and we will slowly break free.
Whenever people come into our lives, they have come for a reason, to
show us something about ourselves that we have not been able to see.
When unhealthy people try to hook us into their patterns with mind games
and power trips, we can remind ourselves that we have something to
learn here and that a part of us is calling out for healing. This takes
the focus off the troubling individual and puts it back on us, giving us
the opportunity to change the situation from the inside out.