It occurred to me, that in a way, this article has some parallels in my own life recently. The day before you posted this, i had been playing an internet game and had been repeatedly losing the battle with the "big boss", a two headed giant, (which i could associate with my own duplicity and the people i engage with here at the house, mirrors of myself of course, and now 2-headed Ra). After losing yet again I tried to understand what the lesson was telling me, what can i glean from a situation i just cant win ie the typical "she did this so ill give cold shoulder and then she gives back the cold shoulder' etc that ive struggled with for seemingly a millenia, and it occurred to me that if i didnt play the game it wouldnt matter. i cant lose if i dont play, and why play if i just keep losing, like being stuck in a never-ending loop. Like being offended and then getting stuck in that game where no one wins. The only way to win is dont play. Stay aware yes, so you can keep healthy boundaries through non-judgemental discernment. And so you can notice your own reactions and thus work them out, just as you say. But just dont do it, you get nothing from it but loss of energy and being trapped in a loop of ruminating, the heart closes down and prescence with higher self is cut off. So the focus is on the work of figuring out why it is i still keep playing these games with others? why cant i let go? why am i so hell-bent on not letting them "beat me"; of being better? Of hurting them more than they hurt me? How to overcome such a formidable advisary, the ego? And i have the tools: face, unravel, infuse, in a nutshell. No more games, just freeing my soul. Transmuting defensiveness and resentment to higher love and acceptance.

The other thing i noticed was the way the game sucks you in and zones you out, like being attacked by a dementor in Harry Potter. And the longer i stayed on the more drained and irritable i would feel. The good thing about playing it is that i'm completely done. I hate the way it drains me and makes me feel like i'm trapped while my energy is being sucked out of me. Even just getting online and the "news" feed that just sucks you in if you let it. Feels silly but relevant nonetheless; a small fractal of the bigger issue you speak of. Thank you