3 questions to ask yourself to see if you are playing victim - part 3

Well, I've highlighted what I found from my 10/5/05 journal entry according to Dennis Deatons categories which are as follows:
Owner statements (OS)
Victim statements (VS)
Exaggerated Disadvantages (ED)
Overlooked advantages and benefits(OA)


"I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen today, and it did. Things were just going too well (ED). The four kids I was babysitting, the mother left the father and took the four kids with her. Now I obviously can't watch the kids and she never paid me for the two weeks (V) I did watch them, so now I'm not earning money and I now have three people that owe me money (ED).

I got a speeding ticket in the mail yesterday for $141. Evidently it was one of those radar cameras on the Ross Island Bridge. I was returning from taking my son to OHSU for surgery preparations. They said I was going 41 mph in a 25 mph zone. I never saw the sign, I was just going with traffic (V) and I guess 261 others got speeding tickets in that same spot during the same hour I did. It was an honest mistake, I would have never knowingly broken the law because I don't want to pay! (V) This is my 1st traffic ticket ever (OA).

Next, I'll re-write the journal entry as an owner.

This exercise is very eye opening to me. It's amazing how naturally I fell into playing victim and blamed others for my problems. What a blessing it is to learn better and that it is I who controls my destiny.

I encourage you to do the same with life situations that are bothering you.

I'm thinking this is a tool I'll use with my children as I'm striving to teach them personal responsibility.

Blessings!