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spending habits while leaving your own unexamined . You may blame your boss for not promoting you or giving you a raise . You might even rail against society or the economy and use them as excuses for why you struggle to make ends meet , or never seem to have enough money for the things you want to do . If you do have enough money , you may fear losing it and hold on tightly , fighting to hold onto every dime , penny pinching when it isn ’ t necessary .
Flight : If your response is flight , you will avoid dealing with your money issues , and may create more problems than you solve . This might look like a stack of unopened , unpaid bills that might be shoved in a drawer to you don ’ t have to look at them . It could also be never looking at your account balances or credit card statements . The key here is not looking at or acknowledging the things that are undealt with due to the fear . This type of avoidance takes a lot of energy !
Fawn : This is a lesser known or talked about response . With fawn , your learned response is to caretake or people please . You will likely give more than you have , accept less than you deserve and / or try to buy approval or love through people-pleasing , caretaking , and being overly responsible . This might show up as overspending on gifts and things for other people , undercharging for the true value of your services , or being unable to receive support and resources that would help you .
Freeze : If it ’ s freeze , you will be unable to take any action
to address the fears constructively . There ’ s a part of you that feels this threat so acutely , you think you may die , or be homeless , or both . You may feel overwhelmed . You may be distracted and unable to focus when you decide to sit down and get a handle on your finances . You may feel disconnected from yourself or feel tired and decide to take a nap or numb out instead of focusing on the task at hand .
If you recognize yourself in any of these behaviors , you are not alone . What ’ s more , it ’ s not your fault . You are hard-wired to have these unconscious responses . However , it doesn ’ t mean you are helpless . In fact , the best way to handle these fears is to turn toward them . To understand and befriend them . Make them conscious . You may have heard of Carl Jung ’ s famous quote , “ Until you make the unconscious conscious , it will rule your life and you will call it fate .”
WISDOM & SELF-GROWTH
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