Selfishness

[autographedcat]

I am not a selfish person.

I don't say this out of hubris. Only that it's the center of my current dilemma.

See, I'm a person who likes to do for others. My priority list always seems to start with "What can I do to make the people around me happy?" In large part, I know that this is because doing for others is one of the things that makes ME happy. I like to make other people smile, to help them get what they want, to make someone else's life just a small bit brighter and more worthwhile.

Most of the time when I am unhappy, it's because I'm put into a situation where the things that *I* want and need are in direct conflict with the wants and needs of someone who is close to me. Knowing that the choices I make for my own health and happiness are going to have a negative effect on someone else gets me in a state of inner turmoil and triggers my depressive tendencies. This gets worse when the other person knows about these tendencies -- I'm very easy to manipulate if you know which parts of me to tug.

I need to learn to be selfish. I need to learn to make decisions in my own benefit. I need to make those decisions and face through the consequences so that I can finally fill the hole inside of me with love and light.

I know what I need. I know what I want. I know it will not be easy to achieve, because my hardest foe to overcome is myself.

Once more, unto the breach....

Comments

*hug*

[gingicat]

Another LJ person (a Callahanian, I think) was recently saying that takers tend to get attracted to givers. But givers need other givers to function best. Let the takers -- the emotional vampires, the bigots, the abusers -- go feed off each other. We can just give to each other.

*hugs*