Leslie Ludy on SELF-PITY
“Self-pity is one of the most dangerous attitudes to allow into our lives. It is one thing to become periodically sad when we are disappointed or hurt by something that happens to us. But continually wallowing in our own misfortune, allowing ourselves to moan and groan about every outward struggle we face, is extremely dangerous. It blinds us to see the needs of others, and worse, it keeps us focused on ourselves instead of on our Prince. Having made the difficult decision not to pursue temporary guy-girl relationships, I found it easy to lie awake in bed at night and feel incredibly sorry for myself that I currently did not have someone to share my life with. After I pulled away from many of my former shallow relationships, it was easy for me to become depressed about having to spend so much time alone. My Prince began to teach me how to recognize these emotional slumps as nothing more than ugly self-pity and to combat those internal pity parties by finding creative ways to bless or serve someone else. I was amazed at the joy I found in simply investing my time and energy in other people. It was usually just little things, like spending time getting to know one of my younger brothers in a deeper way or cooking a meal for a bedridden woman from church. My brothers and I began to visit a local hospital to sing for terminally ill respiratory patients a couple of times a month. I learned that when I invested myself in serving people (especially those who had far worse problems that I did!), my self-pity quickly faded into oblivion.”
– Written as an example of the subtle sins she had to learn to cleanse from her daily life (In her book “Authentic Beauty”)
(via rejoicingmercie)
