Guest Success Post: Life Beyond Victim Consciousness by Lynne Forrest

"The world acts as a mirror that reflects our own state of consciousness.  We project our beliefs onto the world where they are reflected back to us. We then react in ways that prove to us that what we believe is true.  We tend to think our beliefs come from our life experiences, but the opposite is true: our experiences most often come from what we believe.  Our beliefs create our personal reality."  -  Lynne Forrest, "Life Beyond Victim Consciousness"

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Note from Richard: If you are a regular visitor of this site, you  know we have discussed “victim consciousness” as it relates to the attainment of Success and Prosperity in the past. Being a past personal student of Bob Proctor, I am a big fan of taking control of and responsibility for my life experiences.  For when we refuse to permit external factors, events and circumstances – including the people around us – control our thinking, emotions and behavior – we free ourselves to live a fuller, more expressive and fulfilling life.

Today, we have a very special post on the subject of “victim consciousness.”  The following article, titled “Victim Consciousness: A Worldwide Epidemic,” is Chapter One from the book “Life Beyond Victim Consciousness” by Lynne Forrest.  Lynne knows victim consciousness from first hand experience – as we all do – and has written an excellent manual on transforming ourselves from this “normal” form of thinking to true free and aligned consciousness.

Following this great article is more information on Lynne, her work, her Forest Haven retreat center in Tennessee, and how you can obtain the first three chapters from Life Beyond Victim Consciousness for free.  I highly recommend you accept Lynne’s offer.

Thank you Lynne for your contribution.  And special thanks to Danielle Alvarez Jones for putting this together for The Success Manual.

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Life Beyond Victim Consciousness

By Lynne Forrestt

 Chapter One

Victim Consciousness: A Worldwide Epidemic

The well known spiritual discourse, A Course In Miracles (Foundation For Inner Peace, 1996), says, “we are never unhappy for the reasons we think.”  That means that we tend to think our unhappiness comes from some external event or circumstance.  But the true reason for our unhappiness is always what we are thinking about an event, never the event itself.  To understand that our thinking is the cause of our unhappiness is to initiate the process of freeing ourselves from what I call victim consciousness.

Victim consciousness is a psychological prison, a mindset so prevalent as not to be recognized as a problem.  So many of us don’t even question that there might be another way of perceiving life because we automatically assume that our discomfort and misery come from outside causes or circumstances.

We spend much of our time in victim consciousness.  It is hard for us to see when we are in that state largely because everyone we know seems to perceive the world in the same painful way.

Of course there are degrees of victim consciousness.  Most of us find ourselves moving in and out of that state of consciousness throughout everyday, regardless of how smart or enlightened we are.  If we want to avoid victim consciousness and lead more healthy lives, we must begin by shifting the way we perceive ourselves and life in general.

We make that shift by learning to examine our thoughts and beliefs about the things that trouble us.  In doing so, we can act to liberate ourselves from victim consciousness.  Indeed, to move out of victim consciousness, we must mentally shift into another, more effective, state of consciousness.

To make the necessary shift out of victim consciousness we must learn to see the world in an entirely different way than we, perhaps, are used to seeing it.  In essence, moving out of victim consciousness requires a reliance on several basic universal principles.  Without putting these principles in place, we are bound to go on seeing ourselves at the mercy of a chaotic world which appears to be devoid of sanity or purpose.

A sunset from the International Space Station shows in vivid detail many layers of the Earth's thin atmosphere. Because of the speed at which the ISS orbits the Earth, sunset can be seen as many as 16 times during any 24 hour period, thereby providing a very different perspective of what consitututes a "day." Similarly, we may perceive ourselves as victims of events, circumstances and people - controlled participants in this thing called "Life," or we may choose a different perspective - one in which WE are responsible for our Life experience.

That shift in consciousness is what this book is about.  Through the following pages we embark on a journey that will transform our way of seeing ourselves, others, and the world around us.  To start us on our quest for sanity, peace and well-being, I have included here the guiding principles that I believe are necessary to successfully shift our mind from victim consciousness to its healthier alternative, observer consciousness.  Belief in these guiding principles facilitates our shift from an external focus to an internal one and provides a foundation for understanding that makes escape from victim consciousness possible.

The guiding principles included here are ones I have gathered from various sources which are too numerous to name.  I consider them to be universal, in that most major religions and philosophies, including Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism, as well as many of the more primitive cultures, teach some version of them.

By replacing our old, limiting, and fear-based concepts of reality with such guiding principles, we can greatly ease our transition out of victim consciousness.  It has been my observation that, without a firm understanding of and belief in some beneficent guiding principles, we cannot fully come to trust the Universe, or move forward into healing and peace. In other words, if we do not believe in a Universe that is purposeful, meaningful and benevolent, we cannot rise above victim consciousness.  We must develop a relationship with a Universal Source who we trust can, and does, respond to us, if we are ever to see ourselves as anything more than victims at the mercy of an unkind and unfair world.

Guiding Principles

1. We are free agents, able to choose what thoughts we believe.  The thoughts we believe determine the quality of our life experience.
2. Our thoughts determine our vibrational frequency.  When we believe we are at the mercy of a heartless, fearful world, we see ourselves as victims and experience low-frequency thoughts and feelings (thoughts that create fear, depression, isolation, resentment, jealousy, etc).  When we believe we are protected, loved and prompted by a loving Source, we experience high-frequency feelings (love, safety, acceptance, joy, satisfaction, peace, etc).  The frequency we choose to feel (called alignment) determines the quality of our life.
3. We are made up of a trinity: mind/spirit, soul/emotion, and physical body.  Balancing these three aspects brings us into alignment with the highest possible frequency: Source.
4. The world acts as a mirror that reflects our own state of consciousness.  We project our beliefs onto the world where they are reflected back to us. We then react in ways that prove to us that what we believe is true.  We tend to think our beliefs come from our life experiences, but the opposite is true: our experiences most often come from what we believe.  Our beliefs create our personal reality.
5. Our beliefs become the personal reality we see and experience in physical form. In other words, we manifest our beliefs.  If we have beliefs that breed feelings of peace and harmony, we will see peace and harmony all around us.  If our beliefs are full of strife and conflict, then strife and conflict will be our personal reality.
6. Life is cyclic in nature.  Like a wheel, life goes round and round; sometimes we are on top of the wheel, sometimes we are on the bottom of it, but how we see these rotations determines how we are affected by them.  We either perceive ourselves as victims and feel at the mercy of life’s ups and downs, or we move into observer consciousness and witness life as a reflection of our own mind.
7. All of our feelings and behavior come from what we think and believe and not from external causes.  There are no exceptions.  In other words, we act the way we do because of the thoughts we believe.  We automatically act according to the beliefs we hold.
8. What we focus on expands.  Attention is a way of directing energy and automatically feeds whatever we are paying attention to.  That means the more we resist something the bigger it gets.
9. Whatever we judge and condemn within ourselves, we deny and then project it onto something or someone outside ourselves.  What we judge as unacceptable in others is something we have not admitted or accepted in ourselves.
10. There are no mistakes, no coincidences in life. Everything happens for a reason and/or has a purpose.  To see it any other way is to be in victim consciousness.
11. There is another Reality.  It is the deep peace that is always available in the eternal, present moment, no matter what else is going on.
12. We are emanations of what I call the One Universal Mind, hereafter referred to as Source that is ever present and always radiating its benevolent Light (consciousness) upon us.
13. Everything is made of Source energy and vibrates at its own particular frequency.  We are vibrational beings who are attracted to (and who attract to ourselves) people and situations with a similar vibrational frequency.

Source is always here for us.  It reaches out to us just as we seek it. It never stops supporting us.  It breathes us, and it is closer to us than our own skin.

Having studied these guiding principles, we are ready to explore our energetic interaction with the world around us.  In the chapters that follow, we will learn in detail about the nature of victim consciousness, about the energetic nature of thoughts, about the nature of feelings and beliefs.  We will also learn about our core beliefs and how they dictate our life expression.  We will examine tools, such as Karpman’s Drama Triangle  (1968), and seek to better understand the nature of our own core beliefs and the role they play in our lives.  Perhaps most importantly, we will follow a step-by-step guide helping us break the victim cycle and freeing us from victim consciousness.

How Victims See the World

The nature of the lens through which we tend to perceive life is rarely suspected as the source of our suffering.  That limited (and limiting) lens is commonly accepted, by us and others, as a given, as normal.  Our pain and suffering then, we also consider to be normal, to be part of the human condition.  But this narrow conception of the word “normal” generally means typical or expected.  It is not necessarily synonymous with the word “healthy.”  In fact, far from promoting health, the “normal” state of victim consciousness generates misery for ourselves and the world.

For instance, we may think it “normal” for a new mother to experience postpartum depression, in the sense that it is a common occurrence for women who have just given birth to go through some degree of depression.  But a “normal” occurrence, does not necessarily make it a healthy one.

Likewise, victim consciousness can be considered “normal” because of its prevalence.  But it is far from being a healthy state.  Those of us who view life through this narrow lens of what it means to be normal are in victim consciousness and thus see ourselves as victims.  We see ourselves as powerless over or at the mercy of something outside of ourselves and we react accordingly.  We blame something or someone external to us for our unhappiness.

Victim consciousness generates a “they did it to me” or “I couldn’t help it” frame of mind.  This frame of mind means we are trapped by how we perceive.  We do not know that we have a choice to perceive differently because we assume that our perceptions are accurate.  As a result we are fearful and we feel powerless.

Feelings of powerlessness spawn a natural need to control people or situations that feel overwhelming.  Being in control gives us a sense of power over situations and over people we might otherwise feel at the mercy of.  The need to be in control is one of the many telltale signs that we are in victim consciousness.

There are other characteristics that define victim consciousness, including a tendency to denigrate ourselves.  It is wise to become familiar with the signs and symptoms of victim consciousness (see “Signs of Victimhood” eBook).  The more quickly we perceive those telltale signs the more quickly we can free ourselves.  Otherwise we limit our own potential and we limit our ability to perceive the potential in others.  Limiting ourselves in these unhealthy ways leads to feeling mistreated by life and especially by those we have tried to help.

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About Lynne Forrest

Lynne is a non-traditional practitioner and seasoned professional who has supported her clients through all kinds of life issues – including addiction, problematic relationships and spiritual malaise.  Lynne utilizes a unique blend of methods accrued from her studies, travel and twenty-five plus years experience in private practice; all of which are grounded in universal & metaphysical principles.

Lynne came up through the ranks of experiential learning rather than the more traditional academic route.  She started out in the mental health field in the early seventies, hired and trained by an HMO (health maintenance organization) in social work and mental health.  She has been in the field of personal growth ever since – moving to the addictions field in the early eighties, where she was one of the pioneers for co-dependency and family of origin work in her town of Chattanooga, Tennessee.

As a perpetual student of life and consciousness, Lynne has devoted her career to studying with masters of various disciplines.  Family dynamics, Jungian principles; dreams & shadow work, psychodrama & energy as well as the laws of manifestation, body oriented practices such as yoga, physical unwinding and qigong are just some of the approaches Lynne applies in her work with others.

Through her work with clients, Lynne has developed a unique understanding of how the mind works and ways to liberate it from the throes of what she calls the “victim mind.”

Lynne teaches that we react to life in one of two ways – we’re either reacting out of the victim mind or we see life through the eyes of the observer self which witnesses without judgment.

The victim mind is a state of consciousness that prompts us to react as if what we feel, believe or do is caused by something outside of us. We see ourselves as being at the mercy of our life circumstances.

The observer mind, on the other hand, understands that there is only one cause to our unhappiness – and that is what’s going on in our own mind.

What drives our mind are the thoughts we believe.  Each of us operates from a set of core beliefs which create a life theme that generates the feelings which our behavior follows.

Lynne’s work is devoted to helping people find and clear the painful beliefs and ideas that have caused them distress through a process of accessing the Observer Self.

Lynne’s Personal Transformation

Utilizing the process she shares with others, Lynne transformed her own health and consciousness.

“On Dec. 16, 2006, I woke up to the fact that I was truly sick with chronic liver disease ... I was in constant physical distress - unable to digest food well and was so fatigued I could hardly get through my day.

That morning I got up to pray and meditate where I asked for insight and relief. I realized I’d been given the very resources I needed for healing and I made a commitment to devote myself to a daily practice of applying them. I started that morning.

Six months later, I'd dropped the 40+ extra pounds I’d been carrying for years (without dieting) and my health and consciousness had completely transformed! Today I am well, better than well, I thrive!"  - Lynne Forrest

Today, through one on one, groups and workshops of various kinds, Lynne facilitates individuals in their own personal growth process.  Sharing with them the same tools and principles that brought her healing.  Lynne encourages clients to explore their own basic belief blueprint and move towards ways of liberating themselves, mentally and physically, from the painful concepts that have held them prisoner.

Lynne and her husband Daniel operate Forest Haven a retreat setting for small groups and larger outdoor gatherings, out of their mountain home in Monteagle, Tennessee.

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Book Information

If you would like to read more of Lynne's book, please click this link and she will send you the first three chapters of Life Beyond Victim Consciousness - for FREE.

If you really love what you have just read and are ready to purchase the book now, please click this link and it will bring you to the Order Page for the book, Life Beyond Victim Consciousness by Lynne Forrest.

While it would be reasonable to assume so, please note that I am NOT an affiliate, promoter or marketer of Lynne's book and receive NO compesation, commission or any other thing of value should you purchase Lynne's book through this link, this web site, or otherwise. 

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