I remember this well. I knew that my ship (life) was sinking. I was feeling that I was going under. My feeling was physical and real. I was losing control. There was no hope. And at this time of personal despairing, when I was at my lowest point, a lifeboat showed up. I know this is a metaphor. In reality the boat was a solution that gave me hope. And to my surprise, others had also found this life boat. And as we shared stories with each other about our troubled lives and our feelings of hopelessness, something amazing happened. The solutions appeared. We each grabbed an oar and began rowing to shore.

So, you can stand there on the ship’s deck and feel it sinking or you can get into the lifeboat. We are talking about being compassionate to yourself, because everything else springs from that.

It is not selfish to love yourself.

If you can’t find compassion for yourself, you’ll never be truly generous for yourself, you’ll never find it for anyone else. You won’t know how. You will never be truly generous to anyone while depriving yourself.

The reason we don’t tell anyone they should do this, is that a person won’t do this until they are ready.

MOST PEOPLE WILL NEVER DO THIS.

All we are saying is that when you’re ready here’s the way you can do it. This is definitely not another stick to beat yourself with.

When you’ve suffered enough, you’ll remember that you know how to do it. It doesn’t really matter what you thought or have believed, felt or done before. This is a new day.

“But I I’ve always done it this way.” But I’ve always been this way.” Or “This is just the way I am.”

These are three of the world’s worst excuses. Don’t make excuses. Have a life!

 

SOURCE: (C) The Depressed Anonymous Workbook. Depressed Anonymous Publications. Louisville. KY.

All DAP books can be ordered online.