Has this ever happened to you? Somebody says something to you that immediately triggers negativity within you. You don't have a clue why you are so upset and you wonder just where that feeling came from.
Tony Robbins would call this a "negative anchor" -- something that is said or something that is experienced that you associate with a previous negative event. Peter Levine refers to this as trauma being held in the body.
Whatever you want to call it, the event and feelings surrounding the event rear their ugly heads again and again until you are able to heal the original situation.
Does This Sound Familiar?
One weekend, we were with Susie's extended family of 14 people, ages 1 year to 79 years. The living room was crowded as we watched the NCAA basketball game. There wasn't a chair for Otto as he stood in the doorway watching the game. Several family members offered to make room for him but he declined. As they continued to insist that he sit down, he became agitated.
It took him a few hours but he realized that his agitation came from previous situations with his ex-wife when she would say to him, "Please sit down! You're driving me crazy!" His agitation was from the trauma of the past. The agitation from the present situation fired off a negative anchor within him that instantly took him back to a time in a previous relationship that needed to be healed.
At that moment, he pulled out the baggage from his previous unhealed relationship but had the awareness to realize that his present negativity had nothing to do with the people in the room and the present moment. He was able to let those old feelings go and live in the present moment, enjoying the game and the people in the room.
This situation is what Stephen Covey talks about when he says, "Old resentments never die. They just get buried alive and come up later in uglier ways." The resentments we hold which are not resolved usually manifest themselves again in other relationships which have nothing to do with the original trauma.
Healing Past Resentments
We suggest that the first step in healing these past resentments is to stop yourself when you first feel it and examine where the negativity is coming from. The first step to creating any change is awareness. Go back in your mind to your previous relationships -- where did this feeling come from, who was there and what was the situation?
It's very important to differentiate what happened in the past from what's happening now. Ultimately, you will want to work on forgiving that person and honoring how that experience created who you are today.
Only after you are able to release the past, can you experience the emotional freedom that we all desire.
Book by the authors of this article:
Should You Stay or Should You Go? Compelling Questions and Insights to Help You Make that Difficult Relationship Decision
by Susie and Otto Collins.
If you're trying to decide whether to stay in or leave a relationship, "Should you stay or should you go?" is a simple, step by step guide that will help you make the best decision possible. This book contains an experiential process of questions, stories and insights that will help you take a thorough, heartfelt examination of your relationship. It will also help you to clarify your next logical steps -- ?whether those are to formulate ways to make the relationship better or to devise a plan to leave the relationship with grace.
Info/Order this paperback book.
About the Authors
Susie and Otto Collins are spiritual and Life partners who teach others how to create outstanding relationships of all kinds. Susie and Otto regularly write and present workshops on Spiritual Partnership: The new model for relationships that really work. Their message comes straight from the heart, their own experiences and from an intense study of other teachers and writers on relationships. Visit their web site at http://www.collinspartners.com and sign up for a FREE newsletter filled with tools, tips and ideas on creating outstanding relationships and ideas to help you on your spiritual path.
Books by these Authors
at InnerSelf Market and Amazon
