Peace Concept #2

I am not a victim. I choose to be free.

The world as we've known it encourages people to perceive themselves as victims. Our world looks for blame and justifies harming others to avenge suffering. When we feel victimized we are not free. Being a victim is not the same as being a survivor. A survivor looks to the future, while a victim looks to the past. Victimhood is our greatest bondage. The only way to loosen the chains of victimhood is to grieve our suffering, express our legitmate suffering or the suffering of others. And then we let go. Victims never allow themselves to be freed from the past. One way victims renact victimhood is by becoming perpetrators. Perpetrators relieve victimhood by victimizing others, believing such perpetration is a kind of justice for past wrongs. But by being perpetrators, we do not escape the cycle of victimization and perpetration. Instead, to leave this cycle, we choose to be free. We seek safety for ourselves and work to heal our wounds, not create new ones. We seek to join with others who will help us to express our grief and losses. We can accept that others have acted out their victimization in harmful ways, but we can also choose to end the cycle of victimization. We become free people once again.