the one with makers and victims

Photo by: Zilla774

You are given many chances in life to choose to be a victim or to be a creator. When you choose to be a victim, the world is a cold and harsh place, a hell.

"They" did things to you which caused all of your pain and suffering.

"They" are wrong and bad, and life is bad as long as "they" are around.

"They" might be one or more individuals in your family or community. It might be the terrible politicians or your boss or the wicked unit of the power elite that rules the world. Or you may blame yourself for all your problems, thus internalizing your victimization. The essence is that victims feel a need to blame someone for all their problems, whether it is themselves or others, because that someone is ruining their lives and world. And the truth is, your life is likely to stay that way as long as you feel a need to blame and make yourself or others wrong.

Those who choose to be “makers” look at life quite differently. They know that there are powerful individuals and groups who might like to manipulate their lives, but they don't let this get in the way. They know that they have their drawbacks, but they don’t blame themselves when they fail. Creators feel no need to blame anyone as they know that whatever happens, they have choice in the matter. When Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. were put behind bars, they used that opportunity to meditate and pray, to write letters and books, and to inspire their people to stand up and make a difference. They prayed not only for themselves and their supporters, but even for those who worked against them, amazing huh? They were unstoppable, powerful makers who continued to have a very high quality of life until the day they died.

Victims savor in anger, bitterness, vengeance, and all sorts of emotions and behaviors that cause others – and for some even themselves – to feel like victims, too. Makers consciously choose love, inspiration, empowerment, and other qualities which inspire not only themselves, but all around them to continually create the lives and world they want to live in. Victims and makers live in the same physical world and deal with many of the same physical realities, yet their experience of this reality is worlds apart. From the perspective of quality of life, they hardly live in the same world. Yet whether they know it or not, both victim and creator always have choice in each moment to determine the direction of their lives through what they choose to do with what they are given.

In reality, all of us play the victim and all of us play the maker at various points in our lives.

Yet few people realize just how much choice we have in which role we play at any given time. One person, on losing a job or a special relationship, may feel as if it is the end of the world and sink into terrible suffering for months, years, or even a lifetime. Another with the same experience may choose to experience the grief of loss fully, yet in a relatively short amount of time move on to be a powerful creative force in their life. In every moment and every circumstance we can choose to be that creative force in our life.