One of the grand fears that people have as they get a bit further into the deeper work of recognizing the BS core beliefs they were imprinted with, at a very young age, and realizing where those came from is having to cut people out of their lives, or at least radically reduce the presence of those people in their lives. It’s something you’ve never imagined or never considered an actual possibility. Or, if you have, it’s something that becomes more startling as that possibility becomes something you find yourself considering with increasing frequency and seriousness.

For some, it seems like a giant leap to say. For others, it’s an obvious statement of fact that, fundamentally, anxiety is fear.

To worry about what might happen, to feel anxious over how things are going or where things seem to be going means, at the root, to fear what might or might not happen. Be it anxiety regarding family, money, politics, AI, parenthood, climate/environment, job, relationships/love, society, friendships, the state of the world, or anything else, it is fear about how this or that thing might negatively impact me and/or those I care about.

On one hand, there’s nothing wrong with anxiety. We all feel it. It’s a perfectly normal human feeling to have. In fact, in certain situations and amounts anxiety and fear keep us safe from eventualities that might cause us harm.

How does the term Narcissism fit into your attempts to better understand what you’re experiencing in someone else or yourself?

Although I prefer the term Extreme Taker, the origin story behind Narcissism explains a lot about the phenomenon. It also provides perspective on how much courage it takes to come to terms with the dynamics around extreme takers and extreme givers. For to heal, you will need to look deeply within yourself to begin to identify not just the pain and fears that have driven you, poorly, for far too long, but the core beliefs you’ve been taught about yourself that keep you entrenched in patterns that are undermining your happiness, sense of self, and your inner peace.