Rigid Character Structure
The Achiever/The Perfectionist
Early Wound: If you have the rigid character structure, your parent or caretaker most likely squashed or rejected your natural feelings of aliveness, spontaneity, sexuality, and love. This gave you the message that the best way to receive love was to suppress all feelings and become the perfect, model child.
Behavioral and Psychological Characteristics
- Need for perfection and success
- Suppressed feelings
- Fear of emotional vulnerability and making mistakes
- Difficulty being playful
- Hard to relax because there is always something to do
Gifts: function well in the world, disciplined, committed, reliable, have a strong work ethic
Exercise
Write down at least 20 or more answers to the following question.
Who would I be if I were unproductive?
At first you may come up with negative responses, such as “I’d be a loser; I’d be unloved,” but if you work at this long enough, going deeply within, positive responses such as “I would be free” will likely emerge.
See Chapter 6 of Hidden Treasure — The Book to learn about:
- Other Causes
- Body Type
- Effect on Relationships
- Other Behaviors with cartoons
- Many more healing exercises
- Life stories illustrating the concepts