The second Tuesday of their meetings Morrie and Mitch get together (at least according to the book it was their second meeting...) to discuss feeling sorry for yourself.
The Second Tuesday, We Talk About Feeling Sorry for Yourself
"I give myself a good cry if I need it. But then I concentrate on all the good things still in my life. On the people who are coming to see me. On the stories I'm going to hear" (p. 57).
Obviously, this isn't a profound statement. The reason I chose it was because it does recognize that tears are okay when you're feeling like things are hard. But, then, you've got to pull it together and discover all the other stuff going on in your world. You have the choice to look at all the blessings in your life and discover why they are blessing to you.
Of course, this is much, much easier said than done.
Morrie looked forward to the visitors each day that gave him a sense of purpose and belonging. They gave him energy and strength. The visitors connected to his past life of teaching and mentoring, while including him in their current lives.
He accepted that his situation was awful, and he required himself to acknowledge it before moving on in his day.
For a long time in parenting, I've tried to hide my own tears when things are sad or hard. For some reason, I thought that I needed to "be strong," when in fact I was grieving or depressed. I have learned that hiding these emotions does absolutely no one any good at all. In fact, it harms everyone around me because I end up cooping up my feeling which makes me feel worse; my daughter doesn't learn that emotions are an important part of life; and my husband has no idea what's going on in my crazy head :)
How are you at allowing yourself to cry when you need it but then move on so you don't wallow in your own self-pity?
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