Janet reflected on the events of the past several days and instead of being embarrassed by her behavior, she was proud. She had purchased a new computer from a large retailer based on the specs and appearance. But when she began to use it, she discovered the store had done a bait and switch. They told her one thing about the product and sold her something completely different. After doing several rounds with their customer service and management department, she was told that the computer she wanted was no longer in stock and she would have to settle for a lesser brand or lesser quality. Not like the only two options they presented, Janet instead went on-line and purchased the exact computer she wanted for less and returned the original to the store.
In the past, such an incident would have sent Janet through the roof. Her anger would have automatically kicked in as soon as she realized she was being taken advantage of, and then after the manager ignored her other solutions (they increase the specs of the computer she bought – a possibility she had already checked into), her survival instincts would have been activated. Once she found herself backed in a corner of two no-win possibilities, her fight mode would have caused her to elevate to embarrassing levels.
But none of that happened. Instead, she was able to come up with a solution that worked for her and avoided causing unnecessary conflict. In this particular moment, she could see the benefit her therapy had on her behavior. All those hours of recalling painful childhood memories, processing them, and healing from them paid off. Here is what else she realized:
[To read the rest of this article by Christine Hammond, click here.]
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