I know I struggle with this a lot in everyday life. I often compare my misfortunes (e.g., depressions, humiliations, and my TBI) to that of other individuals. I think that, “Oh boy, I am the one with the shittiest life; only if people knew what I’m going through everyday. With this type of thinking I am totally missing out on other opportunities that would and could present themselves. Not to mention, I am doing a disservice to all my psychology professors that said everyone experiences these negative emotions DIFFERENTLY. I can’t say that I have the worst life because EVERYONE EXPERIENCES EMOTIONS DIFFERENTLY! To help emphasize the magnitude of this understanding let us look at this example.
A friend and I had been talking about this negativity that I’ve been experiencing, lately, in my life. He proposed this idea about the affects my emotions have on others around me. If you have a can of Mountain Dew and it is shaken up. What if you, now, suddenly open it? What do you get? The can explodes out of the top spraying Mountain Dew.
Think about it this way, now, if you are filled with all the negative emotions and you are shaken up. What do you think you get in return? You spit out all this garbage that you keep inside to everyone around you.
In closing, I will hopefully be more cognizant of the effect of my negativity on others. I will realize that I’m talking in subjective or personal terms that may be totally different from one person to the next.
What do you think? What do you do when this happens?
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I think you are on a good track for enhancing your life and others ! Love you gma
I like the analogy with the mountain dew. Its a simple explanation that is easy to understand.