Putting our Problems in Perspective
We are told "other people have had it so much worse".
Being told that sometimes aggravates us. We wear our wounds with bitter pride sometimes. We get into "suffering contests" with others, feeling whatever we were dealt in life was worse than the other fellow.
Having suffered through mental illness periodically through life, having been homeless, having been physically and verbally abused, sometimes I get bitter.
Last Friday I was invited to a party. I was seated next to a woman named Rosalia ("Leah") whom I have known to "see" and to whom I send a holiday card at Hanukkah/Christmas.
We got to talking and she confided that she is a HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR. Born in 1933, she was still a child when confined to the concentration camps. At the end of 1945 when she was released, she was 12 years old and weighed 36 lbs.
I made up my mind right then and there to fight harder. Fight the demon of self-pity in any and all forms. A lot of DS members trying to lose weight have admitted that they often cheat when they start getting angry (that they have to diet). I'm guilty of that.
Leah not only has those horrific memories to deal with, she has diabetes, carpal tunnel, and a husband with cancer in a nursing home. She admits she sometimes asks God, "WHY ME?" But then she says, "Why not me???" Although the Bible states that God doesn't give us more than we can bear, sometimes we weaken and get resentful. Even Jesus in the Garden prayed to be released from his obligation to die on the cross. "Father, if thou be willing, REMOVE this cup from me!"
Let us take up our cross with dignity.
Being told that sometimes aggravates us. We wear our wounds with bitter pride sometimes. We get into "suffering contests" with others, feeling whatever we were dealt in life was worse than the other fellow.
Having suffered through mental illness periodically through life, having been homeless, having been physically and verbally abused, sometimes I get bitter.
Last Friday I was invited to a party. I was seated next to a woman named Rosalia ("Leah") whom I have known to "see" and to whom I send a holiday card at Hanukkah/Christmas.
We got to talking and she confided that she is a HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR. Born in 1933, she was still a child when confined to the concentration camps. At the end of 1945 when she was released, she was 12 years old and weighed 36 lbs.
I made up my mind right then and there to fight harder. Fight the demon of self-pity in any and all forms. A lot of DS members trying to lose weight have admitted that they often cheat when they start getting angry (that they have to diet). I'm guilty of that.
Leah not only has those horrific memories to deal with, she has diabetes, carpal tunnel, and a husband with cancer in a nursing home. She admits she sometimes asks God, "WHY ME?" But then she says, "Why not me???" Although the Bible states that God doesn't give us more than we can bear, sometimes we weaken and get resentful. Even Jesus in the Garden prayed to be released from his obligation to die on the cross. "Father, if thou be willing, REMOVE this cup from me!"
Let us take up our cross with dignity.
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