Dear greenshade:

Without details about the particular situation, a work situation I assume, my advice would be in regard to what you wrote here: “am aware that I am projecting these feelings from an earlier stage on to these people, but this does not make them less strong, or make me more able to act in a positive manner, rather it makes me feel even more trapped (by my habits and the strength of my feelings)”-

your awareness of (inaccurate) projections into these people is not adequate, instead, it is an on-the-surface awareness, this is why it doesn’t serve you and you feel as bad as if you had no awareness at all. An awareness can be purely rational, same kind as reading a statistical piece of information that means nothing to you, the number of people in a far away town you never heard of. So you know how many people live there and you soon forget.

A deep awareness includes an emotional component that leads to a deeper understanding and better ability to function in the present without inaccurate projections from the past.

anita

Dear greenshade:

You are welcome. To “get to a deeper level of awareness” you have to slow down, to notice how you automatically and habitually think and act when you do, and insert attention into that automation (aka Mindfulness).

anita