Liberation From The Saboteur!

The consensus among most Psycho-Spiritual philosophies is that we all have a cluster of primary character archetypes encoded in us that help us live in the world! One of the four universal archetypes (crosscultural) is known as the ‘Saboteur’. Yes!! in fact we do all have one! It’s function is to both wreck yet also warn us of our defeatist behavior so we may attempt to self correct ourselves. We do this best when we stop to observe the information within the Saboteur's agenda to understand it’s function to value and revise a particular perception of what it may actually be doing. In this regard, we don’t allow it to disempower our true self. We moderate it, instead of the other way around. When we come from a place of love and find a way to embrace this Saboteur, then it knows its own boundaries and in turn must respect ours. Ideally we can benefit most when we realize why it acts the way it does to begin with? What is the message(s) it holds? It communicates in the only way it knows how!! It grasps our attention and wants to take control of us! Do not fear, as we can put this Saboteur in its rightful place... Just choose an inquiry of decoding and shift the inherent negativity ascribed to this Saboteur. It was born only to test you! So instead of fighting or rejecting it, which does not subdue it's energy, we can love and embrace it and quiet it. An analogy in kind would be when a child has a tantrum, we can de-escalate it by loving and understanding the child’s underlying frustration/ message, rather than try to fight a screaming child which would only make matters worse!! All of our archetypal parts have messages, challenges, personal/ universal lessons, graces and many creative expressions. We each have our own unique package!! Knowing this helps to accept all of our parts so that the grace of each can lighten those challenges.

When does Self-Sabotage start?? Good question,right! Well, the seeds are planted from early introjects that have unconsciously been embedded into our psyches. Introjects are thereby formed from the 'objects' (caregiver response) that we've internalized from our primary years of life! With that said, when we choose to live a life that honors divine messengers we must work through self-sabotage at the core roots. It’s up to us to follow the glimmers of truth that reveal themselves to us as they do. If we want to take our self-knowledge and self-awareness to a higher level, then we may have to journey through old repetitive themes that have taken lodge through energetic pathways perhaps throughout inter-generational lines. This is what makes it most difficult for many…. Working at the energy level requires deep experiential work, and often requires outside professional help of some kind.

A good place to start would be a Self-Study process!! Begin by asking oneself basic questions that unravel the intricate roots of self-sabotage! Keep in mind that there are no wrong answers or ways of doing this! Oftentimes we really don’t consciously know why we’re undermining ourselves but it feels way too comfortable and familiar when it’s been the only thing we’ve ever known…. Usually the reasons are buried underneath the surface, though if we consciously listen to our inner dialogue with our third ear, we’d surely hear hints of self-deception and low self-esteem! Then of course, there are also other times when we feel we do understand this self-sabotage but we end up doing it anyway. Most would agree that the Saboteur is considered a shadow aspect of the self, however, let’s not totally negate the positive function it serves to protect us from fear or pain. Any and all fears may be included in this framework because the process to overcome them is pretty much the same, with exception of few instances. It means examining a habitual emotional/psychological/behavioral complex that forms neuronal brain connections somewhat akin to an addiction. According to Jung’s literature, this “complex” is described as a node in the unconscious.

In order to dissolve such a node to better formulate conscious healthy constructs, its essential to establish a personal motivation to overcome the old and create healthy momentum. When you release old ineffectual patterns you naturally open up space to replace them with self-aware autonomous re-scripting. This enables you to take charge of your thinking process in order to pave the path of self-empowerment. Knowing precisely what motivates you helps to re-script old defeatist ways of living. You may want to choose an archetypal symbol representing the old habit and also a new symbol for the self-empowered choice. Doing this makes an abstract exercise of change work much more concrete. You can be creative with the process, draw or dance or act it out! You may also wish to integrate a rewards system to enforce new behavioral modeling. Use this reinforcement to give yourself credit for every bit of positive effort. Set up a time and place to increase and express clarity around the modification process and record these efforts in a behavioral log journal. You may want to choose a close confidant in order to increase self-accountability and follow-through for more consistent results. If you slide back, take note of the circumstances, the feelings, the people and places and reframe and revise so that the next time you’ll feel more prepared when specifically challenged! Let each of the images (negative and positive) convey the messages you need! Don’t censor these messages they may not be what you expect them to be, just listen and learn and keep self-compassion as your guide! A parts-integration process reduces the negative power of the Saboteur! Trust your journey! It will change in proportion to how you change! Allow integration over time, everyone responds at their own pace....no need to rush the process! Be kind and compassionate with yourself just as you would a dear friend!! Your energy will shift and you’ll gradually feel more aligned with your True -Self!! Liberation from the Saboteur's self-sabotage is to re-energize you Soul!! Namaste.