Denial is a powerful force...
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Denial is a powerful force in our lives. When we are facing critical illness or death, denial allows us to keep going, to get some important things done, to keep working on projects that are dependent upon us. When we are in a very difficult home or work situation, denial can take the edge off of the difficulty some of the time and allow us to take care of those things that might eventually change our situation. In short, denial can buy us time and keep our strength from being drained by unnecessary worry or despair. But taken to its extreme, denial can take away our lives. It causes us to live out of sync with reality. It distorts relationships. Denial can become the roadblock in our path that keeps us from doing that which is most critical. Denial keeps wives (and husbands) in abusive marriages. Denial keeps addicts enslaved to their drug of choice. Denial suppresses the vitality of young victims of emotional and sexual abuse. Denial is the handmaid of slavery. For as long as those enslaved are willing and able to deny their reality, they have no energy, no desire, no need to face the struggle in order to reach the gift of life that lies within their reach. -- Spencer
