The most frightening sights I remember as a child were not the things that went bump in the night. They were not the ghosts, goblins or evil spirits. The images that caused blood curdling screams in my nightmares were terrifying to a point, but not as scary as the shapes in my classrooms in daylight. There were the bullies who chased me home from school and other people who placed fear in my heart. These individuals took the form of my classmates, but followed me through every stage of my life. Wherever I lived, attended school and places I worked, they were there. The name that described these forces in my life is The Hindre™. 

The Hindre is a person or spirit whose purpose is to keep you down, stunt your growth, hold you back, and prevent you from moving forward, realizing potential and living up to your expectations. They are positioned in households to thwart success, to discourage siblings and offspring and to disillusion those who have the ability and talent to achieve their dreams. They are in businesses and other organizations ready to sabotage those individuals who are viewed as a threat to insecure members of the group.

Many of us are familiar with the concept of sleeper cells as they relate to terrorism. These individuals become a part of the community and maintain a low profile. Their actions are not out of the ordinary. They do not bring attention to themselves. Secretly they are living undercover, part of a radical organization, waiting for the time to carry out their mission. They remain a part of the community until they receive instructions, maybe years later to perform a very bad act. Their neighbors are usually surprised when they are exposed. When interviewed, neighbors say things like, “They seemed like the nicest people, they didn’t bother anyone, we had no idea they could do such a thing.”

A first encounter with the Hindre is during your youth. They lashed out against you and hurt your feelings. Exposure is at school or in the home. The experience may have left you angry, embarrassed or ashamed. As you grow in age and maturity they show up in school, relationships, family, and activities and on the job. They are sometimes subtle or bold, undercover or out in the open, covert or overt in their actions.

The Hindre show up in the early stages of development when people and ideas are the weakest and most vulnerable. In school when you are forming your dreams and goals for the future, they bring their brand of sarcasm, laughter, ridicule and other tricks to shake your confidence, break your spirit and damage self-esteem.

At work they appear in many forms. They may seem harmless, objective and well-meaning. But they use their credibility to tear down your ideas and cast suspicion and doubt on your performance. If you are highly regarded, they may use language behind your back such as, “you would think with their education and experience they would know better or perform at a higher rate.” These secret attacks are persuasive and slowly reduce your standings in the eyes of peers and supervisors.

The Hindre’s objectives are very clear. They are to:

• Put you in your place so that you don’t favorably distinguish yourself (they have determined where your place should be)
• Activate the seeds of doubt in your mind and the minds of others regarding your input
• Bring you down so that you are no longer flying high toward success
• Go on record as being the first to launch negative comments and challenges about your contributions (if successful they will take credit for unmasking your weakness)
• Discredit your input and cause you to surrender your dreams, goals, objectives and perspectives
• Harm your performance, even if it hurts the organization or the team

Hindre are everywhere and there seems to be a Hindre for everyone. Friends may become Hindre when they feel selfish and threatened. Depending on your threat level there may be many assigned to you. These friends may want you to stay, for their self interests, try to discourage you and keep you in your place. They are afraid you may become too big for your pants, so they want to bring you down to earth and stop your head from swelling with pride. They are the competitor in class or at work who want to slow down your growth in favor of their career. Your success may be interpreted by the Hindre as their personal failure.

Talent will bring the Hindre to the surface. Talent activates their discouragement mechanism to hinder high performance. As long as you are silent and underperforming they are dormant and content. But when you flex your creative muscles and express your God-given talent, they are pressed into action.

Copyright © 2009 Orlando Ceaser