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Tip 13 Internalizing those External Elements
Addictions are often the result of poor self esteem and an inability to face emotions and feelings head on. We seem to have a hard time just interpreting internal cues. Instead, our common response to internal cues is to add to them through our senses. For example, we may be worried that our boss is about to fire us because we turned in work late. Rather than acting on that emotional state, we start to build on our internal cues with the steadiness of a child playing with Lego blocks. We imagine being fired. We may even hear the bosss voice as we are told not to return. We magnify the situation - instead of being fired in the managers office, we picture our supervisor screaming at us in the lobby, with everyone watching. We imagine all the other things we have done wrong at work and we start to see our manager as a terrible person, a completely unfair person.
From a simple worry we proceed quickly to complete panic and terror of losing our job - something that may not even happen! |