And soon. I’m putting myself on notice.
“Self,” I said to myself tonight, “at some point, you have to get past the fact that everything sucks. Even though it’s not really your fault that everything sucks and even though much of your suckage is not of your own making, you still have to take responsibility for fixing your own life because no one else is going to do it. Constant depression, frustration, and resentment–even when justified–are not terribly attractive and definitely aren’t a healthy part of a balanced breakfast.”
Jeez, I sound like a bad self-help book when I talk to myself like this…
Oy, I feel for you. I’ve been there. In recent years, I’ve come to recognize that I have be responsible for my choices and — perhaps most importantly — for making myself happy first. Then I have a shot at baseline contentedness and any other good things that happen to come about (from other people, etc.) are “gravy.” Does that make sense?
On the face of it, it sounds like a bad self-help book, but it really isn’t, since self-help books wouldn’t exist if they just said, “Be responsible for yourself. Treat yourself well. The end.” :)
I think a self-help book called, “Fix yourself some suckage cause no one else sure as hell will” could be Oprah’s next big thing.
Dan, thanks for reminding me that when you want a good title, you gotta find a librarian…
Sarah, my problem with some self-help books is that’s precisely what they say. They just take 200 pages to say it :)