Success Inspite of Ourselves
You may understand me when I talk about the emotion of guilt.
I have spoken to people (lots of Catholics) about the feeling of guilt and people who have been suicidal because they feel guilty about who they are and the burden they place on their family. They don't feel they are worth the trouble to care about.
They have particular reasons and stories for believing their own failures. These stories show their consciousness doesn't sit well for them. And this happens for many others too.
Why do we still feel like something unfinished?
Sometimes people are unable to find what it is they should be doing in the universe. They struggle to find where they fit. So they may take an easier but more destructive path which leads to inertia and disaster.
However, there is good news. Let say you are supposed to treat yourselves as someone responsible for helping you and be your own best friend.
Why don't we care enough to treat our self well?
The answer is the same for all of us - we are all flawed.
How is it that we care not enough for ourselves but we do it for those we love?
Isn't there a "spark of divinity' (as Jordan Peterson defines it), in all of us?
That "spark of divinity" within all of us means that you're able to withstand the onslaught of life's challenges and suffering
You can discover your own value, your own intrinsic value in your own nobility, and all that might be more powerful than the forces of vulnerability.
Surround yourself with people who want the best for you.
With that new found encouragement, believe that even if life is as difficult as it seems, and if you are as helpless and fragile in a fundamental sense you can find an amazing and compatible order. You can then move towards making the right choices and find the right path for you.
You can set up a family. You can contribute to the world. You can succeed in business.
The mere possibility that this may happen and that it may be within the realm of potential, means that you have a moral obligation to exercise responsibility, to take care of yourself.
Take care of yourself as if you are something that matters.
If you did that properly, it might turn out that what you did would matter to you, that it would be meaningful in the way things matter are meaningful, and it would matter to everyone around you.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Jen
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Hmm yeah..I agree..most of us need a reason bigger than just ourselves to drive us.
Thanks for sharing!
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Hi Jen, hope you have had a good weekend.
Guilt is such a destructive force and unfortunately many people are made to feel guilt for things they have no culpability for, by people who should be there to build them up.
It hasn't always been so, but I am now a great believer in the importance of self worth.
I also believe that I have a responsibility to leave people in a better way than I found them. This may only be a kind word, a complement or even to lend an ear to someone who thinks they have no one to turn to.
Thanks for the post, it was thought provoking.
Best wishes
Gaz
Thanks Gaz, I went to a lecture on "guilt and mental health" about 5 years ago and yes it is very destructive and rarely treated well in relationships. I agree with your approach to build people up. And the importance of self worth. Thanks for your reply, Jen