CancerGirl had an "incident" yesterday and was accused of being "Passive Aggressive" and "unstable", she was pretty hurt by this as she tries to not have those kind of traits. After a few hours of contemplating (and honestly being VERY VERY upset about the whole situation) she called SuperShrink to get his views on it. I have been seeing him for over 10 years now, and well, he is my sounding board and I can always count on him to tell me if I am justified in my feelings or not.
When someone has been abused in their past they tend to not trust their feelings. They learn to push those feelings down and not acknowledge them, this causes one to not be able to tell when they are being abused. Those internal "This isn't right, I need to do something about this" messages get ignored, and it becomes easier to ignore them in the future. Because of this, CG tends to not speak up when someone has wronged her, and rather then confront the person head on, she will speak about the situation in very general terms.
When I asked SS if he thought I was passive aggressive, he said "Yes, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing", I was kinda shocked because I had always thought of it as being a negative thing. He went on to explain that many times people feel that being "passive aggressive" is a bad thing and they have guilt feelings for it but that it in fact is many times it is better then being "outright aggressive" as that would be very very wrong. One of the things that I appreciate about him is that he is very god at breaking things down for me. This was his explanation on the positives of being Passive aggressive"...
If someone is being passive aggressive they may say something like "Some people just don't know when to keep their big mouths shut and mind their own business". This is very passive aggressive. It makes a statement about someone or something that does not specifically name that person or thing. This leaves people to look at their own behavior and consider their own thoughts and behavior in relation to this statement. Those who you may be meaning the comment for may well see that as an attack upon them, but that is their own issues and I am not responsible for what others "read into" such a comment.
Being outright Aggressive would be to say "Melanoma Man just doesn't know when to keep his big mouth shut and mind his own business", this is very aggressive and very mean. Not only does MM know this comment is directly about him, but so does EVERYONE who sees or hears such a comment. This brings that person into the spotlight and does not allow them any opportunity to think about their behaviors within themselves and possibly change based on their own perceptions. It also doesn't give them any way to not be "defensive", as aggression usually causes defense against the aggression. I think I would rather be "passive aggressive" then be outright aggressive and cause hurt feelings. PA also can cause feelings ot be hurt, but because I didn't call people out or put them in the "spotlight" it is their own issues if they get upset by such things. Of course everyone is entitled to their opinions, but as for me, I will continue to take the high road and not name names, if those who are in my life see that as a problem, well then they are more then welcome to remove themselves. As SS said, if I change every thing that someone doesn't like about me (and there will be things, as everyone has different views and truths) that I will lose myself, and that it is far better to loose people who don't love and respect me then to loose myself.
As for my being "unstable", SS had some very good points on that and I was greatly appreciative of them. He explained that if I didn't value and cherish my sanity and stability (which honestly he is even amazed by and those who know me and knew me 10 years ago are as well) that such a comment wouldn't have bothered me whatsoever. He also explained that very often when someone is unhappy with the truth, they tend to turn the other person into someone who is unstable. It makes it easier to excuse the actual truth. He pointed out the ways that I am actually more stable then many out there, and most likely even more so then those who said the same thing about me. I laughed about this but he said "I am serious, are they going to a therapist every week and talking about themselves and looking into their own lives and their own actions? Are they spending hours a week actively pursuing their own sanity by seeking the help that they need?". I told him I didn't know if they were or not. he said that it is very easy for those who DON'T spend time looking into their own behavior and actions to be judgmental because they tend to not see how their actions and words can hurt others. He also pointed out just how "outright aggressive" calling me passive aggressive and unstable actually is and I tend to think he is right.
In the interest of not being "unknowingly passive aggressive" I will say now that this post is meant to be passive aggressive, it is meant to have others think about their own behavior and actions, and it is meant to do so in a "not putting them in the spotlight" manner. In other words "You know who you are".
