Narcissism or Codependancy?

I want to talk about boundaries. I spend a great deal of time helping people, particularly women, heal from what has hurt them. In this process, I have become aware of a couple things. Today I want to talk about “narcissism”. Or maybe perceived narcissism. The reason I say perceived, is because by medical standards, many of the people whom one may label a narcissist, really don’t fit the criteria for a diagnosis. We have come to a point in society where we tend to call anyone who doesn’t agree with us, or operate on our level of empathy, a narcissist. This is simply not true. Only a very small portion of the people who are being labeled as narcissists, actually are by medical standards. That being said, there are so many unhealthy and broken people in the world, that everyone and anyone has the potential to display a narcissistic tendency or two. Alot of people are not going to love what I have to say today, but I am going to say it anyway. If you are attracting narcissists, the problem is not with them. It is with you. Let me explain.

I consistently hear empaths talking about this curse they have. That they attract all the unhealthy and broken people. That they are constantly being victimized. That they continue to be nothing but a good person, but time and time again they are abused and treated poorly.

Let me tell you how to break that chain.

Heal yourself!

It is general knowledge these days, that energy is in everything. Raise your vibration. Broken and unhealed people attract lower vibrations, because they vibrate lower. When you raise your vibration high enough, they are no longer attracted to you.

Now don’t misunderstand this. People who WANT to heal and have a higher frequency will still be attracted to you, possibly more than ever before. It’s the low vibing abusers who do not wish to change that will be repulsed by your light.

Broken people attract broken people.

So many times I hear people talking about all they do for someone, and not getting the desired response being a huge disappointment to them. They do everything they can think of to ‘heal’ a partner or make their life better, and consistently get hurt. Do you know why?

Its called codependency. If you are struggling with doing and doing for someone, and finding yourself disappointed time and again because they have not behaved how you expected in return, I highly recommend the book “Codependant No More” By Melody Beatty. Here is a link to it at Amazon. (No, I am not being paid to write this).

Having expectation of others to change or to behave a certain way because of something we did for them is controlling and abusive in itself. Healthy people are not attracted to unhealthy people, so if you are finding yourself feeling as though you are all right, and they are all wrong, consider that it is possible that you are being just as controlling, in a much sneakier and more manipulative way. I have a right to say this. I was this person before I got the healing I needed. It hurts to hear. It makes us feel defensive and angry. It makes us feel attacked. The simple fact is that sometimes the truth hurts.

Healthy people don’t date unhealthy people. It’s just not natural. When you are strong, healthy, and know your boundaries, you won’t tolerate someone treating you poorly. This weeds out the abusers and narcissists rather quickly.

They just don’t want to change. They don’t want to work that hard, and they will quickly move on to someone more easily influenced.

Heal yourself. Learn who you are, and what your boundaries are, and then stick to them. We teach people how to treat us. Tolerating anything less than what is best for us, teaches people they can get away with treating us poorly, and attracts people who don’t know any other way. If you want to attract healthy people, you have to get healthy.

People are broken.

EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. US.

Potential partners, friends, family. Everyone will do something differently than you would at some point, and if we are not healed, it can be taken quite personally, even when it has nothing to do with us as individuals at all.

So here’s the deal. You have to know your boundaries, and you have to uphold them. You have to teach people how to treat you. The ones who want to be in your life will do the work to meet you in the middle. The ones who are looking for control over something because they have no control of their own lives, will move on to someone easier to control.

So many people are afraid that if they speak up or stand their ground, that they will offend someone, and that someone will leave. I see it a ton in dating situations. “Well he did this, but I am afraid if I tell him how I feel, that he won’t like me anymore”

UMMMMMM….So what?!?!?!?

If being honest about who you are and what you need is going to send a potential partner running the other way, shouldn’t they head out? I mean, if they can’t accept you for who you are now, then what happens when the lustful feelings wear off? A partner who is worth keeping around, wont run off and abandon you if you tell them that your feelings were hurt or a boundary was crossed.

They will do one of two things. They will try to function within your boundary, out of respect for you, or they will turn it on you, get defensive, and leave. If you lose a partner for standing your ground about something important to you, they were never going to be a healthy partner in the first place! In a healthy relationship, compromise is a real thing, and you may have to meet them in a healthy middle on your boundary, but sacrificing who you are to keep a partner happy is absolutely unacceptable if you want a healthy relationship.

So many people I know are afraid to date, because every potential partner has red flags and warning signs. Those are obviously not to be ignored, but again, WE ARE ALL BROKEN IN SOME WAY. We are bound to have some coping skills. Not every bad behavior is a reason to scream “NARCISSIST!”. Sometimes the person has just never learned anything different, and if they are willing to hear your boundaries, then they can obviously change and grow. Accountability goes a long way. Someone who respects you will try to be accountable for the ways in which they treat you. If they can not hear you tell them how you were hurt. If they can not find it in them to respect your boundaries, then out the door they go. Why would we tiptoe around on eggshells, not being true to ourselves, to try to impress someone? If we can’t be ourselves now, how will we ever be later? We teach people how to treat us, and when we know our worth and refuse to tolerate any less, we push out the ones who would disrespect us.

If you feel like all you ever attract is narcissists, then maybe, just maybe, you need to look at why that is. It is not because you are an empath. It has to do with your own coping skills and unhealed behaviors. When you heal yourself, you raise your vibration. When you raise your vibration, you attract higher vibrating folks. Like attracts like. If you are attracting very unhealthy people, consider what it is in you that needs to be healed, and you wont have to worry so much about whether someone is abusive or not. They will weed themselves out.

I can tell you from experience. I used to have all the codependent behaviors. I used to think ‘poor me, why do I attract all the abusers and losers”. Turns out, I was as broken as they were, I just hid it differently. When I healed, and held myself to a higher standard, they just seemed to disappear.

They don’t want to work that hard. Your light draws attention to their shame. They look elsewhere, for someone who won’t make them so aware of their shame. They look for control in someone weaker than them, so that they can ignore the lack of control they have in their own lives.

Heal yourself. Know your own boundaries, and stick to them. Abusers are looking for weak people that they can control. Get healthy, so that you may be strong and not an outlet for their need for control. They will either stop trying to control you or they will get tired of trying with no results and they will move along to someone they can control.

Being an empath does not doom you to a life of abusive relationships. Being unhealthy does.

Heal yourself, and you will find that all of your relationships get healthier.

Light attracts light. Dark attracts dark. Be the light, so that the darkness will want to run from you.

Love is the highest vibration. Pure, unconditional, unexpecting, love. If you want to attract the light, set aside your expectations and conditions, and focus on growing the love in you, so that your light will repel the dark.