Excerpt from Nasty People

3
The Cycle of Invalidation

TO AN INVALIDATOR
So. You have decided you are an invalidator. Or else you are not quite sure you are an invalidator. Or else you don't consider yourself to be an invalidator, but you are reading this section to see what the author will have to say to "them." If you admit to being an invalidator, you have my respect and acknowledgment for your willing- ness to confront this part of yourself.

We all react to things. Some hurt others. Some hurt themselves. The secret behind changing it is your intention and willingness to know. That's about it. It may sound simple. Actually, it is sometimes simple and sometimes very hard. Thank you for being willing to read this. Now that you've read more than half of my book and I've described the invalidator in great detail, I want you to know that I know...there is no such thing as an invalidator . That's right. There are only people and the mechanism of invalidation. It was my approach to use the term invalidator. If you thought you were... ta da! ...an invalidator, that just shows how willing you are to put yourself down.

If you find yourself invalidating, work on that mechanism. Get out of that destructive role you ol' invalidator, you!

Continued in book...