Having reviewed the hierarchy of needs we can now start to look at each one in more detail. Remember this is not about making you feel bad about behaviors you might be exhibiting rather the hope is that you will use any deeper awareness or insights to change what you are doing.
Negative/Problem Thought Patterns: Empowerment, Pride, Security relate to the most basic level of getting needs met. On an energetic level getting these base needs met is for many people a very difficult part of their lives.
Problem/Negative Thought Patterns: Empowerment, Pride and Security depletes your personal energy and keep you repeating counter productive behaviors.
Negative/Problem Thought Patterns Related to Empowerment:
There are many examples where people lack empowerment. The most common of these are people who live with abusive people in their lives. The woman who stays with the physically, emotionally or sexually abusive husband for the sake of the kids , the man who stays in a job he hates with a demeaning and manipulative boss because he has a mortgage to pay , the young girl who suffers though sexual abuse at the hands of family and does not know how to stop it are just a few of the ways people get trapped in negative cycles at this level of need fulfillment. For many people this kind of life experience destroys their security (trust), pride (self-esteem and self-respect and ultimately their empowerment (ability to make healthy choices). Listing the types of possible situations is not where the negative/problem thinking reeks havoc though. Many people live through and survive these kinds of situations and yet manage to become productive and even happy adults.
The negative/problem thinking is an issue in this area if the individual keeps reliving bad relationship experiences and repeating these in the new relationships they become involved in. When this happens it is like the person is stuck in a groove and is redoing the pattern over and over. So they keep attracting the same kind of partner, the same kind of boss or abusive people who have authority over them in very personal ways.
But you are reading this and saying “Hey, my relationships and my job are not THAT bad!” and you are probably right. What we are talking about though is habits and energy patterns that become established and how that impacts what you attract to you. So let’s look this idea in more detail. If we believe in the law of attraction and that we each deserve good things in theory then how is it we end up attracting the total opposite of what we want into our lives?
Quite simply life experiences form how you think and that in turn forms more life experiences and so the cycle goes. The difficult thing for most people is not in realizing that doing the same thing over and over is counter productive. Rather their issue is one of courage to deal with their ego and fears Their pride might get in the way and stop them from asking for help or accepting help or new ideas when they come their way. Ego and fear of others’ judgment can keep many people stuck in the negative/problem thought pattern as it relates to empowerment, pride and security just like an old vinyl record with a huge chunk out of it. The base fear guiding our actions at this level of the needs hierarchy is fear of material loss and the unknown future– “better the devil I know than the devil I don’t” kind of thinking process is key at this stage.
Repetitive Negative/Problem Thought Patterns: A Skipping Record
Let’s look at the example of the person who is in the job he or she hates. Now whatever our situations no job is perfect and we all have financial responsibilities that will influence us to maybe stay longer in a job that is not a good fit in our lives. I have done it and I am sure you have to but what we want to get at is what were you thinking in that time when you stayed and felt you had no other options? For me I was always focused on what I lacked, I worried about money and where my next work would come from. I doubted that I would be successful at whatever I was doing rather than believing good things about myself I would fret about the big negatives I saw in me, my work and life situations. I would say ” I don’t want to be poor!” rather than “Abundance is mine.” I would think “I hate my nasty @##%# boss!” rather than examining what I could learn from the situation. Focusing my energy this way while counterproductive was definitely a habit and while I could analyze to death why I thought that way the important thing became how to change it. I was angry and blaming and insecure for many years and had a real issue with help offered or constructive suggestions that friends offered. I was really in a bad ego place and felt that admitting my issues would mean I was weak, messed up and a bad person.
When I realized that how I was choosing to think was dampening my energy vibration I also had to take responsibility for the choices I was making. Now this did note mean that I dumped that crappy job right away, I had to learn from it and so I had to adjust my attitude. That adjustment then raised my vibration and so I drew more people to me who were happier and felt they had the ability to make choices and changes in their lives.
While this was a huge step forward, I was doing this process gradually over time and so in some areas of my life I was having great success with different levels needs fulfillment while in other areas or on other levels I was still stuck in the grove of negative/problem thinking.
That being said let’s take this one step at a time and realize that this is a healing process. How do we start to change old patterns? The simple answer is by gaining more self-awareness. Keeping a journal and asking ourselves the tough questions can be a really go method to becoming more self-aware. Doing this can really give you a true sense of self-empowerment.
Questions about your personal/self-empowerment pride and security to consider.
Am I staying and a bad relationship or work situation because of financial pressures?
Do I repetitively focus on the negativity of my situations rather than what I can learn from them?
Do I more often blame others in my life (my husband, wife or kids) for the situations in which I find myself where I feel stuck or trapped?
Do I blame the universe (God is punishing me), the society I live in ( the economy is bad, or this is just what the world is about) or my post life experiences (my mother/father never believed in me so I know I am not good enough) for the choices I make now?
Do I resist the reality of my level of unhappiness in these situations as a way to avoid the truth?
Am I prideful and refuse help offered and suggestions made by others that could help me change these situations?
While these questions might be intimidating or difficult to answer the key to Empowerment, Pride, Security is self-awareness that leads to action. With this in mind you may want to keep a journal where you keep track of your thoughts and answer these questions in writing. By putting thoughts in writing they become more concrete and we become very cognizant of our patterns. Clarity and honesty are great ways to boost your energy/ vibrational frequency and start attracting to you what you do want in your life.
Self Empowerment
Self-Empowerment is the charge that will Raise your energy/vibrational frequency.
In the next blog we continue our exploration of the needs hierarchy with a examination of Negative/Problem Thought Patterns: Belongingness, Acceptance and Love.
