Refining Ourselves — The Chief Features 1 & 2

The Chief Negative Feature[CNF] is, I guess, one way of creating drama in one’s life—but there’s lots to be said for going for b-o-r-i-n-g in that case. Based on our deepest fears, it’s the only overleaf we choose after birth. During our childhoods and, especially, our teen-age years we experiment with several Features settling on one favorite by the time we reach our twenties—or by the age of 35 at the latest. The good news is that, if we work at it, we CAN change or even let go of this characteristic though most don’t let go till they reach Old Soul Age. In fact, some Youngs and a fair number of Matures even have two CNF’s. That certainly will keep life—ummm—interesting.

Just like the other overleaves, even the CNF has positive and negative poles. If we can remain in the positive pole, we can use the CNF to deal with karma, grow and, eventually, move beyond the fear that caused us to adopt the CNF in the first place. If we move into the negative pole we begin a downward spiral that actually creates more fear rather than alleviating it—which was the reason for adopting the CNF in the first place.

The Expressive Axis
Self-destruction— 10%
People with the feature of Self-destruction are always aware of their faults. They might dislike their body: it is too short or too tall, too fat or too thin, the ears are too big, the hair is too curly. They might be self-critical about their work: they are not thorough enough, not fast enough, not accurate enough. They might be displeased with their personality: they are not smart enough, not funny enough, not likable enough. Whatever the current focus, people in Self-Destruction see their flaws rather than their positives.

These folks do not like to be the center of attention— others may notice their flaws. They worry a lot about what other people think of them. Because they notice their own deficiencies, they think everyone else does, too.
They are hungry for compliments to prop up their self-image. But even when the compliments come, they don’t believe them and tend to look for ulterior motives behind them.

They do not allow possessions to accumulate; if they do get a little ahead, they’ll give it away before someone else [who is, by definition, more deserving] takes it from them. They do not feel comfortable with money in the bank. They deny themselves any luxury.

People in the Positive Pole of Sacrifice, think others are of greater merit so they are willing to give so that those others can have. They are very conscious of loss and gain, and see themselves as losing in most transactions. They work hard and give away too much— "what's mine is yours".

The Negative Pole is Self-hatred. People in this Pole see themselves as blemished and cursed. These are the people who hurt themselves when something goes wrong in their lives. They think the universe itself hates them—and rightfully so. They hate themselves for not being perfect; they are ruthless with themselves, showing no mercy.

In many cases Self-Destruction can show up as self-harming. These folks regard themselves as damaged merchandise, and may damage themselves further. Masochism can develop. Pushed to the extreme, it takes the form of suicide, if not overtly, at least as accident proneness: carelessness to the point of hurting oneself, and not seeming to care.

People with this Feature let themselves be used, and hate themselves for it, but keep on letting it happen because it fulfills the self-image of deserving hatred. The lesson to be learned from this Feature is that every transaction between people and with the universe should be mutually beneficial. Neither should gain at the expense of the other. This Feature distorts the perception of love with the lie that one can be of benefit to others at one's own expense. However, self-sacrifice is not noble.

The way to conquer the fear that led to the choice of Self Destruction is to actively seek the Positive Pole of the Complementary Feature, Greed. If the person in Self-Destruction will not worry so much about what other people think of him, but thinks more about his own desires, he can control his fear.

Greed 15%

“What’s in it for me?” is the by-word for someone with this CNF. My guess is we’ve seen a lot of this feature recently—in real estate and on Wall Street. And those CEO's who think they should get those multi-million dollar bonuses even after running their companies into the ground seem to operate from this position, too.

Greed gives one heightened desires for all that life has to offer— then creates the desire for even more. Even allowing oneself everything is not satisfying, though, because Greed is pushy. It itches.

It may manifest in addictions: shopping, gambling, cravings for food, drugs, money, sex, power, fame. Different Soul Ages may handle this CNF differently: Infants and Babies may crave security; Youngs may go after power, fame and money; Matures may crave relationships; Olds may run after one mind-blowing spiritual awakening after another. Passions held at this level are likely to both push other people away and pull them in.

In the positive pole, these folks go for the gusto. They don’t know the meaning of the word ‘indifference’ but grab life and shake it. They’ll feel gratitude for their abundance and manifest lots of energy.

In the negative pole, they can become voracious and insatiable. Fearing that life is a zero-sum game— if you have something, you are limiting what I can get —people can become obsessed with taking what others have. And their desires can become cravings. From here one can easily slide into Self-Destruction.
People can be ruthless toward others and fearful of losing what they have already accumulated. They can become miserly and begin hoarding. As can be seen, this can lead to a miserable existence.

Refining Ourselves
The Chief Negative Features— 7
Stubbornness—[20%]
Stubbornness aids in persistence and drive. It makes it easier to get where you want to go. You can pierce through barriers and shout down your opponents. This, by itself, makes it one of the most commonly used Features. Furthermore, this Feature has the ability to slide to each of the other six— another benefit of Stubbornness —I guess.
In the positive pole, this Feature leads to fortitude and determination. It’s users will slog ahead letting nothing get in their ways. Stubborn folks will find their ways through bottlenecks and plow through obstacles. Not much will stop their forward motion.

In the negative pole, however, they find it difficult to change course. They’ll put on the brakes when moving forward would benefit them far more. They can look prejudiced and obstinate, digging in their heels. Being unable to listen to suggestions or advice put forth by others, “I’ll do it my way, myself.” Determination and grit become obstinacy and mulishness. Inflexibility becomes the order of the day and the individual puts on blinders seeing only one possible outcome and doggedly slogging toward it— even if an alternate goal might be better in the long run. Folks in negative Impatience tend to get stuck. Growth can, as a result, grind to a halt.

There are lots of Stubborn politicians. On the positive end, these folks can push their agendas and find the fortitude to plow through the required paperwork. On the negative end [as we’ve seen too often, lately] Stubborn people can refuse to see anything positive on the other side of the aisle and absolutely refuse to work with people who aren’t marching in lock-step with them.