Impatience and nagging are common ways of getting high on
people, the high being derived from the response and confu-
sion of your victim. Excite others to be ambitious and you
get their energy. Shock, embarrass and push your way in,
ignore propriety and protocol and here again you can drain
the life out of people and control them.
       Perhaps you have experienced the draining power of a
sick person. The state of being very nervous and drained of
energy can cause accelerated "movements" similar to the
old-time Keystone Kop movies. A hyperexcitable state ex-
cites others unnaturally and, without realizing it, they sur-
render their energies–which can make you feel very much
alive in the process of destroying them. Entertainers and the
so-called "beautiful people" exist on energies elicited by their
instant approval of the masses. They provide a better self-
image in exchange for money and emotional life. Look out
for your own private charming personality; you would do
well to remember the origin of the word "persona"–it means
"mask."
       It is commonplace to be involved with personalities
who, after giving us goals and feelings of worth, steal us
blind. The tempter who aggravates the life out of you and the
personality who gives you a better image of yourself are from
the same source; they both enslave you to them. Resentment
toward your master or idol always makes you a two-time
loser. Either way, upset or put-on, you are leaking a precious
vitality that somehow gratifies the tempter and makes him
feel smug, strong and secure.
       The anxiety and guilt you feel for responding compels
you to behave in one of two ways. You take it out of others,
you force the innocent to become guilty, you make them
react to extract the same satisfactions as those who still lord

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