It took me a little longer than usual to get through this, but it certainly wasn't because I didn't find it fascinating...it was because I was binge-watching the entire first season of Orange is the New Black.
Psychological examples are always super interesting to me, and the individuals' stories that illustrate the lifetraps are what I liked best.
From this book, I learned that my primary lifetrap is Social Exclusion, which brought on Unrelenting Standards, all with a small side of Subjugation. Bestest times, right? But the key to making change is acknowledging and understanding, so I'll take it. It was enlightening to see glimmers of other lifetraps that are present in people I know, too, as it brought about a new perspective on their actions that I might not like.
Discussing the Surrender lifetrap coping style: "Unhealthy as it may be, most people seek and create environments that feel familiar and similar to the ones where they grew up. The whole essence of surrendering is somehow managing to arrange your life so that you continue to repeat the patterns of your childhood." p. 37
"Lifetraps are long-terms patterns. They are deeply ingrained, and like addictions or bad habits, they are hard to change." p. 42
"Remember, the chemistry is usually highest with partners who trigger your lifetrap." p. 180
"We pay a high price for burying our true self in the way Eliot did. It is a great loss, like a death. Spontaneity, joy, trust, and intimacy are all lost, and they are replaced by a guarded, shut-down shell. The person constructs a false self. This false self is harder, less easily wounded. [...] A true self that stays hidden cannot heal." p. 216-217
"...anger is a vital part of healthy relationships. It is a signal that something is wrong - that the other person may be doing something unfair. Ideally, anger motivates us to become more assertive and correct the situation. When anger produces this effect, it is adaptive and helpful." p. 266
"You are much more powerful when you are calm than when you are screaming. Screaming is a sign of psychological defeat." p. 290
"Unrelenting Standards can create the full gamut of negative emotions. You feel constantly frustrated and irritated with yourself for not meeting your standards. You may feel chronically angry, and certainly you feel high levels of anxiety. You obsess about the next thing you have to do right." p. 298 The entire Unrelenting Standards chapter was, like, whoah.
"Most of us operate on automatic pilot, repeating habits of thinking, feeling, relating, and doing what we have practiced over our lifetime. These patterns are comfortable and familiar, and we are very unlikely to change them unless we make a concerted, deliberate, and sustained effort to do so; if we wait for fundamental change to happen on its own, it almost certainly will not. We are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past and the legacy of our parents and grandparents unless we make intentional and prolonged efforts to alter them." p. 342
"Unfortunately, many of us are trained as children to disregard our natural inclinations and to do what is expected of us. [...] We must find a balance between the needs of society and our own personal fulfillment. We are not advocating a narcissistic philosophy of living. However, many of us have been overtrained, oversocialized. We have been pushed too far in the direction of doing what others expect." p. 344