Can you overcome yourself?

Question

Anti-depressants, counseling, group therapy, physical activity, denial and religion are common ways of dealing with harsh pasts, but can these ever resolve anything. If you are a product of your life’s experiences, and if you upbringing was characterized by living nightmares (seriously heinous) and days are impossibly difficult to charter can you ever escape what made you. Can you overcome yourself? I don’t believe people talking about their past helps, it just freshens it up for another assault. So how can you separate your ongoing self from past events that so totally shaped you? Is it not our inability to overcome ourselves that leads some people to suicide? If there is a way, besides lobotomy, to permanently move on and stop reliving those nightmares surely it’s a well kept secret, or can you tell me “how do you overcome yourself?”

sashali · Accepted Answer

Yes you can.  As a victim of childhood abuse, I grew to be a very angry teen and a very depressed adult.  I believe what kept me going and gave me the ability "to overcome myself" was my strong inner spirit and wish to be happy and laugh again.  I did talk about my past, just as I still do, but not woefully anymore because, finally I let it go years back.  I removed myself from the environment.  I actually moved 1500 miles away.  This was very healthy for me as I no longer had to look at the abuser, ever.  I learned, and worked, one day at a time to become the person I knew was inside me and to be happy.  I affirmed to myself where I was in my life and that these abusive events could NEVER TOUCH ME AGAIN.  I was now free to become the person I was meant to be, happy and successful and able to love myself.  This is what I did, it worked for me.  I did begin working in the psychiatric field helping others who have been abused, this also helped my healing.  I hope I have been able to give you some ways to help yourself because even with all the doctors, anti-depressants, therapies etc., there is still the work we as individuals must do on our own to "overcome". You can do this.

mrskerlin · Answer

I agree that reliving it is not the answer but to distance yourself from the past you need to share it with someone.  When you share it with someone then the burden that you carry becomes half of what it once was then sometimes that's enough to turn your back on it and go forward.  Try living in the day.  Forcing yourself to appreciate what you have and what you are doing at the moment.  

And to answer your question can you overcome yourself or your past, well of course you can.  Just leave it where it is on your path through life and stop carrrying it with you. I don't think that it's a well kept secret but it's harder than it sounds to just live in the moment.  And it's even harder to put away the role of the victim.

Anonymous · Answer

By allowing courage to enter into you, fear can be diminished. One must realise that feigned helplessness is only a negation of responsibility toward cultivation. The childish use of 'if' can be eliminated, for arguing with one's betters is making useless excuses.

On the otherhand, one can refuse to wipe their backsides for a very long time.

Can you overcome yourself?

2 Answers