The Victim Trap

Is it true that life has to be hard and difficult? The belief that life has to be hard and difficult is the belief that makes a martyr.

Using each problems that cross our paths to prove that life is hard and we are helpless is being a codependent. It’s the victim trap.

We do have power even in the most difficult times. The difficult times don’t prove that life is bad. They are part of the ups and downs of life and often work out for the best. Take a look at this example.

I am humbled by Belle’s Humble Beginnings. I have known a long time ago that she came from humble beginnings but details of which I only read in her latest entry. The lovely Belle is mother to two gifted and beautiful girls , one of which is a Payson Roundup’s Young Woman of the Year while the other daughter received a “Student of the Year” and the ““Most Improved Student of the Year” from Kiwanis. What pride and joy for this mother who experienced extreme hardships just to finish her high school?

Who would have thought that once upon a time Belle would wake up early in the morning to give me an early start for a three-kilometer walk to school or earned at an early age the art of ““supnit”, I learned to fish in the swamp using agahid (fish net), I learned to plant young rice plant in the muddy fields (such a back breaking job!), plant and harvest camote, make tiniklad (nipa shingles), harvest rice in the wee hours of the morning, and so on and so.

Did she turn out to be a bitter person? No. She has not forgotten her past, her roots. Her warm and generous heart is shown by sharing her blessings with her town mates through scholarship programs. She teaches her children to be responsible citizens by bringing them over to the Philippines . Her daughter spearheaded a Donations for Education which raised funds to purchase school supplies for the poor school children in her mom’s village.

I know of a few martyrs who often whine “It’s really like that. Life is really hard. What can I do?”

We aren’t helpless. We can solve our problems. We have the power to solve the problems that is ours to solve.

Belle might not have known it then but deep inside she was already working towards changing her circumstances through education. By topping her class, she got a full scholarship to study in the finest school in the country. Sure, she had no control over her father’s meager income but she knew her responsibility was to finish her secondary education even if it meant walking to her school.

Life is challenging. Sometimes, there is more pain than we can ever bargain for. Sometimes, there’s more joy than we can imagine. Its all part of the package.

We are not victims of life. We can learn to remove ourselves as victims of life. Letting go of the belief that life has to be hard and difficult makes our life much easier.

Belle, you are a shining example and inspiration to our less fortunate countrymen in the Philippines. Thanks for sharing your story.