INTERNALIZATION

What is internalization?  Internalization is a very important daily wisdom word.  Before getting into why, let us first take a look at its meaning in our Webster Dictionary: Internalization-1.  Learning (of values or attitudes etc.) that is incorporated within yourself. Daily Wisdom Word Meaning:  Finding yourself absorbing something you hear or see.  Copying or mimicking behavior. Internalization to some degree is normal because we do see behaviors we like in others, and find ourselves  carrying them out.  Children especially do this because they are forming their personality when they are internalizing what they are seeing from others or watching others do specific things. However, when we internalize as an adult more than just a little, it can be signs of a problem.  When I was going through my divorce, at 30 years of age, I made and met a group of friends.  Like me, they had young children at home they were responsible for, but they had no problem leaving them with a sitter so we could all run around meeting guys and drinking.  I found myself internalizing their behavior. This was not a positive thing for me or my two children but being newly divorced, I wasn’t sure how I fit in this big world out there, and they were the first group of divorcees I met while going through my own divorce.  Internalization, can hit you when your vulnerable.  I, being newly divorced was just that;  vulnerable and when you find yourself copying other people’s behavior because your not sure how to act, then internalization is not a good thing.  The human mind is like this like a sponge absorbing everything it sees, and that is what I was doing by mimicking these friends. I soon realized this was not the direction I wanted to go, and stopped internalizing everything from this group and began to hang around more positive people. Internalization sometimes happens when we like and admire someone.  We might begin to dress like them, wear our hair the same way, and we lose some of our own identity when we take this too far in any situation. Thanks so much for reading about internalization with me today!  Have a blessed day!   Samantha Leboeuf/DWW