So, yesterday I had a conversation with my sister. I get to hear about her problems, which is draining and stuff but I want to maintain a healthy relationship with my sister so I do this. She is in a lot of pain.
I help her to the best of my abilities, then I smile because the next thing I'm going to say is a joke. I tell her, "Well, when you feel like what you are going through is so bad... Think of the kids who got drafted straight out of high school and had to go to Vietnam." The reason I say this is because, for one, this concept and how other people take it is an inside joke with myself, and two, I know she is going to react in a bad way to this.
"Well yeah, there are starving children in Africa too. It's not even the same country! Why would you do that? Why the fuck would you do that? Why would you try to belittle what I'm going through by comparing something that's not even relevant?"
So the reason this is an inside joke with myself is... This is what I always tell myself, as of pretty recently, when I am going through a hard time that seems insurmountable. I will say something along the lines of, if there are people who can get through the Holocaust, I can do this. Or, as of late since I started thinking about it, if there are people who go to war, I can do what I'm doing here because this is a lot easier.
This is pointing out something dumb about people. I usually think of it as a woman thing, but there are men who do not like their pain compared to this kind of pain either. They think, well, it's like you are saying my pain doesn't matter!
Well, for one, why the fuck does your pain matter? It doesn't matter! Sure, it matters to you. But if you are looking at the big picture, you will see that there are so many people through out history who have been through more pain than you. So, pretty much, it stops self-pity right in the nub. There goes self-pity! All gone! Out the window! NO MORE FUCKING SELF-PITY! I FUCKING HATE SELF PITY!
I hate self-pity. That's why I tell myself this. It makes it a lot worse when I start thinking, oh, woe is me, about anything that I am going through. So, the thing about self-pity is, a lot of people like feeling bad for themselves. YES! A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE FEELING BAD FOR THEMSELVES! I don't know if it really helps, but they seem to think it helps. It does not. It makes them feel worse in the long run. It renders them worthless, immature, whiny pricks.
I'm not trying to be hard on everyone for this. This is a technique I didn't know when I was at Innercept. It is not really that simple. I would not have used this technique at Innercept, because I did not have enough self-esteem. YES! THIS TECHNIQUE TAKES SELF-ESTEEM!
So the other reason I make fun of people like this in my mind is, they want their pain validated. I don't respect this reason. No, you are no better than anyone who went through the Holocaust, you are no better than the young men (and women) who have gone off to war, and yes, you are no better than the starving children in Africa. You think it's irrelevant because it's so extreme. Well I will tell you this, get off your high pedestal and sense of superiority because you live in a first world country. You are no better than anyone else, you are only as good as you make yourself to be and you think wallowing in self-pity is helping?
So I have no respect for this response, but I know it is inevitable from a lot of people. It's a joke when I bring up this argument that your pain is nothing compared to these people, because I know most people cannot take it. But I can. That's why I bring it up!
And yes, you should know you are in pain. I do not need to tell you, yes whoever, you are in a lot of pain. YOU SHOULD KNOW!
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