Self pity
Saw this in internet and tot of sharing it with you.
Self Pity
Elizabeth Elliott once said, "Self-pity is a death that has no resurrection, a sinkhole from which no rescuing hand can drag you because you have chosen to sink."
People who regularly engage in self-pity usually have a very narrow perspective of the world. They often look at their lives and only see the failures, the disappointments, and the inadequacies. They're unlikely to find satisfaction at work, and their relationships feel bland because they're so focused on the negatives.
Now it's important that we do not confuse self-pity with depression. People do go through periods in life when their emotional state goes into upheaval because of some personal crisis. We should be sensitive to such cases and not brush them off as "whiners" or "self-pitiers".
The kind of self-pity I'm referring to is usually uncalled for, and intentionally sustained over a long period of time with little or no desire to truly make things better. Things are usually not that bad for these people; they have plenty of things to be grateful for, but they simply choose not to appreciate them.These people are usually miserable and make others miserable too by constantly pointing out what's wrong in their lives. They never seem to listen when we point out what's good and right in their lives; how the positive out-balances the negative. They don't want to acknowledge this because then they'd have no reason to feel bad for themselves.
The person who engages in self-pity is looking for sympathy, and it's usually in that sympathy that they hope to find some relief. It too quickly becomes an addiction, a quick fix they have to take again and again in order to limp from day to day. As someone once said, "Self-pity is one of the most unhappy and consuming defects that we know.
It is a bar to all spiritual progress and can cut off all effective communication with our fellows because of its inordinate demands for attention and sympathy. It is a maudlin form of martyrdom, which we can ill afford."We all engage in self-pity to some degree. But we should not let it become a habit. When you catch yourself doing it, check yourself.
Are things really that bad? Is there something constructive you can do to make things better? What about the aspects of your life you can be thankful for?
Contributed by Eugene Loh, Slice of Life
Start taking a moment each day to spend a little time with yourself by embracing a moment with yourself by thanking yourself sincerely for being alive, being here in the present so that you can appreciate the beauty of life.
Look into the mirror and say "thank you", and show your deep appreciation.
Feel the emotional shift inside you. :)
