An illness we all can catch.

Victimitis is very contagious. It can be thought of as more contagious than the flu, and more devastating than an infectious disease. It can figuratively (and literally) destroy a person’s career, relationships and life. Yes, it is a made-up word; though rest assured the “disease” is real. It is real and it is dangerous. Like most contagious illnesses anyone is susceptible to contracting the victimitis disease. The key is to know how to avoid catching it and if you do catch it,
how to cure it quickly.

There are three key aspects of protecting oneself from this terrible disease. First how to identify the signs, second how to vaccinate or keep from catching the disease and lastly, how to cure it.

How to Identify the Symptoms of Victimitis

Most symptoms are verbal. A person will say any one of the following statements:

1. I am under employed. (What? What the heck is that?)
2. I got passed over….
3. Why did they do that?
4. Can you believe they did…?
5. It’s not fair….
6. They cheated….

These are only six of the possible hundreds of verbal statements that can be a symptom of a person infected with the victimitis disease. A common theme of these statements is they all focus on the past, or what someone else did to them. They speak in powerless sentences, allowing all their life’s happenings to be the responsibility of someone else.

The Vaccination

The vaccination starts with one’s own mindset and belief. A person must stay focused on two emotions to maintain a strong immune system. These two emotions are gratitude and persistence. When a person is grateful for their circumstances, and remains persistent to achieve success — no matter the barriers — it is impossible to become a victim. This formula works because it takes a person’s focus from the past and puts it to the future; a person goes from focusing on what did happen to what they will make happen.

When You Are Approached by an Infected Person

Be careful — this disease can be transmitted through the air, otherwise known as airborne. When a person is approached by an infected person, there is no need to panic or be rude, first they must assess the situation. Is the victim seeking enlightenment and help to be cured, or are they looking to spread the disease? If they are seeking enlightenment please point them in the right direction to “owning” their world.

Enlightenment for Victims

There is no underemployed. Whether one used to be a VP and now mows lawns due to a downsizing; a person is paid for the job they are doing at that time. Perhaps a person was once “overemployed”? They must stay grateful and persistent as they move toward the job they want.

No one is passed over because no one is owed a job. If a person did not get a job, it’s because the other person was a better fit. When a person does not get the job they interviewed for, it does not mean they don’t deserve it; it simply means the other candidate was chosen. When a person does not get the job, they must stay focused, persistent and grateful and assume it was for all the right reasons. The only other option is to play the victim and blame others, which creates negative energy and limits one’s success.

Bad things happen, a person always has the power to choose how they will respond.

A person must assume that others are as honest and as caring as they are.

A person must go from a mindset of why something happened to what they will do to succeed.

If they are looking to spread the disease, in hopes of you joining them, then it is okay to walk away. Sometimes this is best done with a smile and ghosting the heck out of there, sometimes it is best done firmly with an “I am not sure I agree with you, but I wish the best for you” and get away.

If You Get Infected, Cure It Quickly

A person can contract the disease by simply agreeing with the infected person and sympathizing with their “unfair” treatment. A person can actually feel the disease entering their body. It starts with a feeling of genuine sympathy, followed by frustration and anger and maybe even righteousness or indignation. If person starts to feel the symptoms, the first thing they must do is go back to their vaccination. They must stop doing whatever they are doing and take the following four-steps to remove this victimitis disease:

Step 1: Write down five things they are grateful for right then.

Step 2: Then write down three positive aspects of whatever negative action happened to them (how can you look at it differently).

Step 3: Then write their desired outcome of success or what they want to achieve.

Step 4: Write down three actions they are going to take to ensure their success (the next attainable steps).

Final Thoughts

Anybody can be subject to catching a bad case of victimitis, but when they do, they must cure it and cure it quickly. Life is about ups and downs and sometimes what appears to be a down in turn very often becomes the start of one’s biggest upswing. A person can’t always control what happens to them or around them, but they can always control how they respond. The choice to be a victim or victor is not a one-time choice, rather it is a choice that a person must make several times a day. The secret for fighting victimitis is gratitude and persistence. When a person is grateful for their situation, and persistent enough to never give up their goal, they will never be a victim.

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].