I just discovered what a sociopath is, and in the process
realised that my stepfather – the man I lived with from age 6 to 19 – was just
such a creature. The list of characteristics (here) fits him to a tee. That explains
a lot, it really does.
I’ve long thought he did me a favour, because rebelling
against the kind of person he was set me up for going my own way. As somebody
famously said, and I’ve quoted this before but it’s worth quoting again:
Honour your worst
enemy, for he is your greatest teacher.
4 comments:
One of my mom's brothers fits that to a tee as well. And my ex has a lot of sociopathic characteristics. I learned a lot from him, too. And as much as i hate to say it a lot of who i am today, a lot of the qualities i like about myself, are the results of my knowing and living with him.
So that's something else we have in common, Miss Andrea (you're definitely a Dixie girl now.)
It's often said that the best lessons come from the most difficult sources.
Sociopaths are scary people and thank god you managed to escape although a bit scathed I can imagine. I never liked that saying, "keep your friends close but your enemies closer." What do you think?
Well, I suppose most of us go through life picking up scars of one sort or another, since life is a bit of a battle at times even for the fortunate. Certainly my stepfather's treatment left me with a few bits of difficult baggage, but I honestly believe I've dropped it all now and emerged truer to myself. So I'm still oddly grateful to him in a perverse sort of way.
And I can understand the point in keeping enemies close in order to better watch what they're up to, but I think that approach suits a more prosaic mentality than mine. Being a sensitive sort, I dislike the 'smell' of enemies, so I'd prefer to keep them as far away as possible.
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