Inner peace, independence & relationships

[LifeWork]

As I move on towards inner peace and realization of myself, I can't help but think about the way people treat each other. This "game" society pushes on people - who has the most **** basically - makes most people miserable and paranoid.

My last "attempt" at inner peace went horribly wrong due to my fear of losing my "game" and close people becoming horribly jealous of my ability to change the course of my life. Some of the conflict could've been prevented by me, others were purely out of the spite of guys used to being the "top dogs". My final realization of being totally controlled by a couple of people in my life was devastating.

Losing all interest in the game came naturally. As I learn independence, I feel more powerful, because I really don't care that much about the game of how things appear to be for me, just where I was getting at before. I'm starting to enjoy connecting with people, and I recognize "game players" instantly.

There's no winning with some of them. You're either "above" or "below". Brutality, no values, just hierarchy. If you don't seem to care that much, you get put above, and then people try to tear you down. Once your below, you get treated like ****, it naturally flows downhill. Why do so many people fall into the bullshit trap fed to them?

How many real friends can one find in this sort of world?

[Tigerlilly]

What "game"? I'm not quiet sure what you mean, but I think that there's some attitude here rooted within yourself that has you see the world tainted black in some way, and if you aim for inner peace that's the weed you need to dig out first in your own line of thinking and feeling.

[LifeWork]

The competition for control. I don't know...I'm having a brain tweeze of some sort right now.

[Remiel]

The game as you put it is in itself a lie. The need for control is something that ironically we can never fill. No matter how much control we have there are a near infinite things that remain outside of our control. So instead of trying to have total control I live life as a ship on the grand ocean. I know where I want to go and do whatever is in my power to get there. Yet I know that I am not in control of anything but the direction I face, the destinations I wish to visit, and the effort with which I can apply to get there. When winds come to blow me off course I exert more effort. If I'm still being blown off course then to me there is a no accident moment with that storm. So I adjust my course and destinations accordingly.

To me in order for me to have real friends I must first BE a real friend. To me this also means I must remove all masks and lay my all out before everyone. So far I've found it incredibly easy to make friends this way. I have deeper conversations with strangers than I do with my older friends sometimes.

[WhiteLight]

"The Celestine Prophecy" by James Redfield might shed some light and provide you with the insight you need. This 'game' you talk about is the competition for other people's energy, and it is rooted in the control dramas we all develop during early childhood.

Things naturally flow downhill when people are stuck in these control dramas. Through the evolution of consciousness you can interact in a way that brings the energy level up, instead of down, for everyone involved.

[LifeWork]

Thanks for the book suggestion.

I'm actually working on this control thing, I have this affirmation that popped in my head "I let people and things go" and I write it in my journal every now and then.