In
"Games People Play" Eric Berne described 3 dozen games people play such as "Poor Little Me", "Yes, but",
"Negative attention is better than no attention at all",  "Ain't it awful", "If
it wasn't for you I could", "Let's you and him fight", "Now I've got you, you
S.O.B.", "Mine better than yours", just to name a few.

Most
games cause trouble. They are the relationship wreckers and the misery producers
and in understanding  them lies the answer to, "Why does this always happen to me?" The word 'game' should not be
misleading. It does not necessarily imply fun or even enjoyment.

Games tend to be repetitious. People find
themselves saying the same words in the same way, only the time and place may
change. People play ganes with different degrees of intensity. Most of the time
games leave both players feeling not okay about themselves.

How do you stop playing games or stop other people
from playing them with you? It's easy to just say stop playing but if you do you
have to find something to take the place of the time you have wasted playing
games and feeling negative about yourself even if you 'win' the game.

The first step to stop playing games is to
recognize that you are playing one and don't initiate it. When someone else
starts playing the game remove yourself from the situation, don't acknowledge
the 'move' of the other and don't respond as you always have.

One
of the most played games at blogging sites is "Let's you and him fight." That is when a blogger sets up a situation so that two (or
more) other bloggers will get into it and they can just
step aside and watch the fireworks only to come back if things quiet down.
Eventually the other players see what happened and turn on the original blogger who 'wins' the games, disappears for
awhile and then comes back to play again. There are several ways to stop this
game the first being familiar with the 'troublemaker' and not fighting with
others on their blog. Another way is
just to ignore the blogger either by
not reading or commenting on their blogs.

All
games can be stopped in their tracks if one of the players refuses to play and
doesn't answer in the customary way or just doesn't answer. The original game
player feels they have won once the other responds in the accepted way and that
is usually disagreeing with them so imagine their surprise, their reaction, when
that is done! When agreed with they  are basically being told that they are okay
which throws their game off and allows the other to get on with their
life.

When
you are the player initiating the game it is up to you to stop the game. Find
other ways to pass your time, positive ways, ways that improve you and your
life. It is entirely true that if you are frightened of love, friendship and/or
intimacy, games provide you with ways of spending time with people, yet stopping
short of intimacy leaving your life empty and making you feel bad about
yourself.

I
strongly suggest you get and read the following books instead of playing
games:

"I'm OK-You're OK" by Thomas A. Harris

"Born To Win" by Murial James and Dorothy Jongeward

"Loneliness: The Fear Of Love" by Ira
Tanner