Repetition compulsion- why do we repeat the past.

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What is compulsion?
An irrational need to perform some action, often despite negative consequences.

What is repetition ?
The act or an instance of repeating or being repeated.

The term can also be used to cover the repetition of behaviour or life patterns more broadly: a "key component in Freud's understanding of mental life, 'repetition compulsion'...describes the pattern whereby people endlessly repeat patterns of behaviour which were difficult or distressing in earlier life". This "re-living" can also take the form of dreams in which memories and feelings of what happened are repeated, and even hallucination .
Wiki

I'll be shedding some light about the topic based on some experience I've had over the years and a discussion with a friend which goes as thus;

I was talking about an area of my life where I kept experiencing the same outcome over and over again. This was something I myself can't control even though I had to endure with the frustration that comes with it, imagine yourself applying for the same job for 5 continuous years without being applied. That's the feeling, I feel powerless an helpless.

However, when all this was happening, I couldn't help but think about why it is happening to me. Why me?. Why am I experiencing the same outcome over and over again. It wasn't just that I was picked out of the whole population, I concluded It wasn't random.

I knew then that what was taking place was due to the defence mechanism known as - repetition compulsion.
When repetition compulsion steps in, it is as a result of a particular part of you experiencing default and couldn't receive what's required of it because of the default it is experiencing at that moment.

This default part makes you reminisce about the failure you've had all those years of trying to secure the job thereby preventing us from getting what we need. It's like jumping off a building and getting hurt, and then continually trying to jump off the same building without being hurt.

Why this is happening:
I then thought of it as a way of becoming aware of our inner wounds but that it was a very painful way of doing it. One way of looking at this would be to say that this is what happens when one of the wounded child parts within us is trying to get its needs met, as facing up to the fact that this is not going to happen would cause this part to experience a lot of pain - another speculation is that, this is our way our minds makes us aware of what our default are and identifying them so that a solution can be provided and returning us back to the stage we used to be before the failure started, simply means returning us back to wholeness.

Looking at it from different angles, experiencing the same negative outcome over and over again is what happens when we are blind from out default or let me call it 'inner wound'. An example of this is when someone continually draws near a set of people who are considered unavailable and abusive.

This wounded part within us will want to experience a difference outcome, but it will only feel safe with the same outcome it has always experienced. This could probably not be getting its needs met or being physically harmed.
This could seem painful at times but at the same time, it won't look strange to you and whatever isn't strange is what is acceptable to the ego mind. What am saying is, eben though your mind wants to experience something different, as in a different outcome, experiencing the same outcome is what will feel comfortable as it is used to it already.

In conclusion.
What this emphasises is how important self-awareness is when it comes to being able to live a fulfilling life. At a conscious level, we can feel powerless, helpless and as though we are a victim if we continually experience a certain outcome, but, at a deeper level, this can be an outcome that we are comfortable with.
Therefore, once these wounds have been taken care of, our mind can be straightened and set of a new course. This inner wound can then be replaced with an inner peace, allowing us to establish that is built in the same page with our real-self.

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