Posted by Tamar on July 2, 2005, at 16:50:27
In reply to Therapy Wednesday, posted by Dinah on July 2, 2005, at 10:07:48
Hi Dinah,
Sorry, my brain's just not fully engaged at the moment, but I did want to reply to your comments about the fates.
I am familiar with the worry of saying something and then fearing/believing it will come true, and the scariness of finding myself in a situation that seems to be a response to something said in a moment of anger or fear or some other strong emotion.
Then my father told me something he claimed he'd heard from a friend. The basic idea is that if you say something outrageous, you follow it with "God forbid." For example, if someone is driving dangerously, "He should crash that car - God forbid."
So you get to express the intensity of your emotion while at the same time indicating that you don't really want something awful to happen. I guess the theory is that God/the universe/fate understands that it's just an outburst and so you don't incur divine retribution/bad karma/personal misery for it because you're not wishing real harm on someone else.
It works for me; maybe it could be helpful to you.
Tamar
poster:Tamar
thread:521566
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20050628/msgs/522620.html