Defeating Your Dark Emotions
One thing that makes it so difficult to stop feeling sorry for ourselves is how real it feels when we are full of self-regret.
Negative states, in general, are part of an interior conspiracy to produce the illusion that no choice exists for us other than to cave in to their punishing presence. But, in truth, it is not we who are without choice in such moments; it is the negative state that has no choice but to disappear as soon as we remember that no darkness is greater than the Light that reveals it.
The key to dismissing the parts of us that love pity parties is to blow out the match that lights the candles of bitterness before they become inflamed. Here are ten truths about self-pity to help strengthen your wish to be free of all dark, self-compromising states.
Adapted from The Courage to Be Free (Weiser Books, 2010). Guy Finley is the best-selling author of more than 40 works, including The Courage to Be Free, The Secret of Letting Go, and The Essential Laws of Fearless Living. He lives and teaches in Merlin, Oregon where he is Director of non-profit Life of Learning Foundation, www.guyfinley.org. Visit his Beliefnet blog, Letting go with Guy Finley.