I Got Robbed!
Do you ever feel
that way? Like you got cheated by someone or something and your life is changed
forever. The original expression, oft used in sports is, "We was robbed",
meaning (from Dictionary.com), "We were cheated out of a victory; we were
tricked or outsmarted." The expression has been attributed to fight manager Joe
Jacobs, who uttered it on June 21, 1932, after his client, Max Schmeling, had
clearly out-boxed Jack Sharkey,
only to have the heavy-weight title awarded to Sharkey.
I feel like I got
robbed - twice. Once on May 17, 1985 and then again sometime in early 2011. I
thought that the first time was bad because I was robbed of my health and my
ability to be a competitive runner by a car accident. But the good news is that
I got both back eventually. I am still struggling with the effects of this
latest "robbery" - once again of my health and running - and being older, it
seems way more daunting, if not impossible, to get my "goods" back.
But there is one
thing to say about this time, though, and that is, if I did it once, I can do
it again. I was "robbed" and no matter how long it takes, I am going to get
back as much as I can just to get even.
Courage to Never Feel Sorry For
Yourself Again
Ironically, I got
an email this morning with the subject line, "Why Its Stupid to Feel Sorry for
Yourself" and that got my attention. I get lots of inspirational and
motivational emails along with my emails from you and this one contains an
article by
Guy Finley, a best selling author. I will quote most of the
article for you here.
 "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."
-
It Makes Things Worse -
The only thing feeling sorry for yourself changes about your life is that it
makes it worse.
-
It Fosters Persistent
Resistance to Healing - No matter how you look at it, you involve yourself
with whatever you resist!
-
It Repels New
Opportunities - Being wrapped up in self-pity completely spoils any chance
of being able to see new possibilities as they appear; besides, no one likes
sour milk!
-
It Nurtures Bitterness
- The only thing that grows from cultivating any dark seed of sorrow is more
bitter fruit.
-
It Enables the Negative in
Everyone - Feeling sorry for those who want you to feel sorry for them is
like giving an alcoholic a gift certificate to a liquor store.
-
It Steals Your
Possibilities - Your thoughts can no more tell you what is true about your
possibilities than can a set of stream-side boulders know the nature of the
waters that rush by them.
-
It is a Poison to the
System - Feeling sorry for yourself is a slow acting poison; it first
corrupts, and then consumes the heart...choking it with dark and useless
emotions.
-
It Overwhelms You - You
cannot separate the reasons you have for feeling sorry for yourself from the
sorry way you feel.
-
It Depletes You of
Compassion - The heart watered by tears of self-pity soon turns to stone;
it is incapable of compassion.
-
It Dooms You to a Future of
Sadness - Agreeing to live with sad regrets only ensures they'll still be
with you tomorrow.
-
Moving Past Self Pity -
It is important to realize there lives nothing real in our past - regardless of
how disappointing or painful it may have been - that can grab us and make us
its captive anymore than dark shadows have the power to keep us from walking
into the sunlight. Now, add to this fact the realization that there is never a
good reason to go along with feeling bad about yourself, and you're on your way
to living in a world without self-pity.
In closing...
Were you robbed?
Robbed of your once slim figure, robbed of your athletic body, robbed of your
health, robbed of your youth? I guess the choice is either to throw a pity
party for yourself or to buckle down and do everything that you can to get what
was "robbed" from you back. You may not get it all, but getting any of it back
has to be considered a victory and worth the fight! |
