We encounter problematic people in every area of our lives, all throughout our lives. From our youngest, most impressionable years in the form of our primary caregivers to our adult years engaging with perfect strangers on the street, we encounter toxic behaviors of all kinds. Every single moment that we live through in life impacts us in some way, positive and negative. At any given moment, we are the total sum of all of our life experiences and their impression upon us. Some of this is positive for the better, and some if this is negative, for the healing. Keeping this perspective is incredibly hard toward ourselves and toward others. We are trained in modern society to judge and evaluate people based on their behaviors at surface level, without any compassionate contemplation as to what is causing those behaviors. Rather than see a person with problematic behaviors, we see the person as the problem. We see problematic people. People are not their behaviors. People’s behaviors are not born with them, most of the time. Behaviors are developed out of personality, genetics, and environmental conditioning.
Practicing compassion, we are often suggested to take time to consider what could be going on in someone’s day. Someone who is otherwise pleasant acts quite terse- are they suddenly a “bad” person or has something bad happened to them that day with which they are struggling to cope? What we aren’t suggested is to consider what has happened to them every day of their entire lives, including all of the traumas minor and major which may have lead up to the very behaviors we are witnessing in this moment.
Everyone has a story before they work on their trauma.
Until they work on their trauma, their story is trauma. After working on trauma, the story is recovery. We cannot fully understand what the story of trauma has done to shape someone’s life until they tell the story. The truth is, nobody is a problem person. People are not problematic. Their behaviors, on the otherhand, are problematic and have become more problematic over time without intervention and healing.
Your behaviors start to change the moment you release the story of your trauma and start to unravel the complicated tale which has dictated your life.
At The Guest House Ocala, we welcome everyone who has experienced trauma and, as a result, is suffering from addictions, mental health disorders, or other manifestations. Our programs are custom tailored to the specific experiences and needs of each client. Everyone has a story. Change yours today. Call us at Call 1-855-483-7800.