Some people strive to better themselves, some will strive to live a peaceful existence, some strive to create a better world for others bringing education to children who have never seen a page from a book, clean water to those who drink from contaminated streams and hope; hope born in an unselfish way and delivered by a complete stranger.
However, there is a large proportion of the world facing a very different problem; I will go as far as to say that it has become the most worrying epidemic of our time. Attention Seeking! It has spread like a virus that is impossible to contain and the effects are felt by many; so many suffer because others suffer, that’s a lot of sufferers.
We can only guess at the reasons for the attention certain people seek and psychologists have concluded in some cases, the following: Childhood neglect from a parent or carer, lack of self-worth usually brought on by being told you’re not good enough and a trauma which is an emotional response to an act that came without warning, flicking a switch in your brain that changes your once recognizable persona inevitably leading to a change in how people see and react to you.
However, not all attention seekers have such deep-rooted issues. Being spoiled as a child and getting your own way is a burden for the unsuspecting adults they meet as they endeavor to ‘grow up’ not having the foresight to see that a meaningful relationship calls for making each other happy, not just themselves. Too consumed with what they want, they don’t know any better and are are only concerned with what works for them; blind to the feelings and needs of another.
If you have patience an inquisitive and open mind you can recognize that something is not quite right but that patience can wear very thin especially when you are being taken for granted and used. Tactical methods are used to tap into your good nature by attention seekers and you begin to endure something that you won’t have time for if it carries on.
Personally, I went through years of being held to emotional ransom. I believed that I was needed as a source of strength and support and also believed this because I knew their history. I was so wrong. Tactical strategies were used by them, not to grow and be at peace but to hinder me, unable to create a life worth living for themselves they decided to hinder mine in the most malicious and evil way possible.
The emotions I felt when I finally realized that their motives where underhand and devious were mixed. The knife in my back may as well have been placed in my heart but the feeling of pulling it out when the penny finally dropped was a relief. No amount of attention seeking, no matter the reasons will ever give anyone the right to take you down because that’s where they are.
The tactics used are laughable, pitiful and for a vast amount of people dangerous. It’s sad to me that they resort to these unimaginable measures but the real sadness is that of the ones whose naturally abundant strength, heart and confidence is worn down because of it.
© Michelle Sotiriou 2014
She Be Fierce 