It's hard to imagine that people deliberately sabotage themselves, yet most people will admit they do sabotage themselves from time to time. It seems odd though, when you hear someone say they want "X" and yet they unconsciously (or sometimes even consciously) then do all kinds of things to sabotage and prevent themselves from achieving "X".
Why?
If we were to look at this through the perspective of archetypal patterning, we would first have to acknowledge the Saboteur archetype is one of the four archetypes which is common to all humanity; the other three being "Victim", "Prostitute", and "Child". Everyone on the planet has all four, so everyone has a Saboteur archetype which means we are all capable of sabotaging ourselves and others. All archetypes are neutral energies until we engage their patterning, then we have the choice of whether we choose to engage their "Shadow" (negative) or their"Light" (positive) aspect.
One could easily imagine the Saboteur would only have a Shadow aspect. After all, what Light aspect could possibly come from a Saboteur? The answer may surprise you. Your Saboteur archetype is actually your Guardian of Choice. It is through our Saboteur that we choose to make changes in our lives and choose to empower ourselves and others.....or sabotage ourselves and others.
You see, everything we do we choose to do. Now, some will say "I have no choice, I have to do..." yet the truth is, they could choose something different. They rather choose to be dis-empowered and without choice, than to choose to change and become empowered. Which leads us into the reason we often sabotage ourselves and others: "We fear empowerment and the change it would bring into our lives".
For some reason, a lot people naturally assume that by becoming empowered and choosing change in one (or many) areas of their lives means the other areas of their lives will crumble. It's a little hard to wrap your mind around the connection between how improving one aspect of your life will automatically destroy another aspect. Why would it? If you are improving something, the ripple effect through your life would be positive, so rather than destroying what is already good in your life, it would in fact, enhance it.
So how and why do we sabotage those we love? It's also out of fear - usually the fear of being abandoned. So while on one hand we want our loved one to succeed, on the other we fear that if they do, they will leave us and we will be left alone. It's this fear that makes us unconsciously (and sometimes consciously) undermine them; usually in what we perceive as small inconsequential ways.
Comments like:
- "you can break your diet for one day and have dessert with me."
- "I know you're trying to quit smoking, but just come outside with me and keep me company"
- "take a break from studying and watch this movie with me"
- "skip the gym today, you can go tomorrow and stay longer to make up for it"
- "one drink won't hurt you"
While the above are seemingly harmless, the truth is, they are all ways in which we sabotage others. There are hundreds of other ways we sabotage those we love, physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually in order to maintain the status quo and ensure they stay with us. What we need to do is recognize what triggers us into doing this and instead of acting on the trigger, choose to be supportive instead.
In essence, it's about empowering ourselves and being secure enough in who we are to allow others to be who they are, without the fear of being abandoned. Some days we will succeed brilliantly at this, other days may prove to be more challenging; yet the opportunity is always there to choose the Light aspect of your Saboteur and empower yourself and others along the way.
Interested in learning about your Archetypes? Check out: The Soul's Alchemy
