The Route To Hell Is Full of Disempowering Actions

I read a fascinating ego story in the Tribune de Genève, one of the Geneva French dailies, about a typical Swiss man in his mid to late fifties who was beaten up by a thug half his age.

What interested me was the fact that he deliberately put himself in harm's way.

He said that passers by did not stop to help nor obviously did they call the police; he had to go to the station to make a complaint himself.

That attitude is unfortunately typical in Geneva in particular and Switzerland in general. The Swiss are stuck in perpetual observation mode; I think they call it being neutral.


The man got beat up because he asked the losers to stop the racket they were making with some metal guard rails in the street at 2 AM.

Here's the scenario: you're on your way to your car which is parked in a deserted part of town. It's the early hours of the morning. On your way there you see three young men acting crazy in the street.What do you do? 

Do you (a) walk by quickly and pretend you see nothing, as the Swiss usually do; (b) go the long way round; or (c) walk up to the thugs for a polite chat?

The sad, old fool approached the three men "without fear" and politely asked them to stop the ruckus they were making so as not to wake the neighbourhood. Really?!

In Trinidad and Tobago, my birth country, we would say that he got what he was looking for. And I believe, subconsciously, that he wanted to be abused.

In the article he came across as the "I'm a good person" type ... I did the right thing and see what I got for my troubles ... nobody appreciates me ...

He said: "I have nothing against the young men" and is only a little bitter about the people who didn't stop to help. He wanted to tell his story "so that people would see that bad things could happen to anyone".

His ego and pain body were completely in control of him in those wee hours. He deliberately put himself in harm's way, ignoring the clanging warning bells because he needed to feel that someone would appreciate his "goodness".

He could have been killed instead of just being bruised and contused. Here's hoping he gets the psychological help he so obviously needs.

The lesson here is: don't be dumb, go around; be aware of your unhappy feelings; they generate negative thoughts which lead to destructive, disempowering actions.



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