THE SILENT ENEMY

It stalks the land
in the rhetoric of sweet
surrender and "nice
persons finish first"
pseudo successism.
Great sacrifices are made
to acquire and hold on
to it once gained.
What is this silent enemy?
APPROVAL!
Some persons are slaves
to their need for approval.
They have been trained
to do whatever will gain the
approval of others or another.
It is evidenced by
the clothes they wear,
the language they use,
where they live, what they drive,
the people they choose
to associate with. It's a double-
edged sword that creates two fears:
Not only the desire for acceptance
but also the fear of rejection.
The ladder of rejection has 4 steps:
TOTAL rejection--"Nothing you do
is ever good enough."
Highly conditioned rejection--
"You'd better ... or else."
Mildly conditional acceptance:
"I like you because."
Unconditional acceptance:
"I love you, there isn't anything
you can do or be that'll keep
me from loving and accepting
YOU."
Yes, unconditional acceptance
is a challenge but the rewards
of refusing to let this enemy
imprison us are worth it.
NO!
I'm not writing this for
your approval just bringing
it up for thought,