Take this test

might change your view of yourself, your community and the world...
(from John Powell's Fully Human, Fully alive)

1. I must be loved and approved by everyone who knows me, or else I cannot love and approve myself.

2. I must be perfectly competent, adequate, and successful in everything I do, or else I cannot think of myself as a worthwhile person.

3. I have to please others and satisfy their expectations, or else I am a failure.

4. I should keep my feelings to myself, or else I may hurt other people’s feelings and they won’t like me.

5. I can’t think or say anything critical about my parents or brothers in the community, or else I will appear ungrateful.

6. I must always keep the peace in all relationships, or else I will be failing in my duty.

7. I cannot love myself or admit my talents, or else I will be egotistical.

8. I must always be busy with some profitable work, or else I will be worthless.

9. I should always think of others' needs before my own, or else I will be self-centered.

10. I must always be in control of every situation, or else I will be subject to great danger.

11. When other people’s feelings are hurt, I must hold myself responsible for their pain, or else I cannot think of myself as a loving person.

12. The problems of other people should become my problems, or else I am not a caring person.

13. Most other people are just not grateful for what I’ve done for them, and therefore I don’t even bother with them.

14. Most other people care only about themselves and their feelings, and therefore I’m not going to waste my time reaching out to them.

15. Most other people have to be watched all the time, or else they will take advantage of, use, or manipulate me.

16. The experience and events of my past life completely determine my present life and behavior, and therefore there is no possibility of growth or even change.

17. My success and happiness are completely determined by external circumstances, and therefore I have no control over my life.

18. I must be prepared for the worst by constantly dwelling on and agonizing over possible future calamities, or else I may not be ready when adversity strikes.

19. There is one right and perfect solution for each of my problems and this must be found, or else it will be devastating for me.

20. My life must work out just the way I have planned, or else it will be terrible and I will be very unhappy.

21. The world I live in is the only one I know, and therefore I direct all my efforts to the “here and now.”

22. The world is a source of temptation which I should avoid and punish myself, or else I will become corrupted.

23. All things in this world must be left behind when I die so I’m not going to enjoy anything, or else I might get attached to it and lose my sense of direction.

24. I better take for myself all that’s available to me in this world, or else the competition will eat me up.

25. The world of nature with its rain, cold, and heat is more of a bother than anything else, and therefore I try to avoid it as much as possible.