[2856] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: balance
kevles@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (kevles@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Tue Mar 31 12:30:51 1992
I took an Intro. Psych. class when I was an undergraduate. One day, in
a context that I know longer remember, the professor said that "Each one
of us was convinced that him or herself was the one person that Yale had
admitted by mistake." There was a shocked pause, followed by much
relieved laughter, because it was 100% TRUE! Each of us was having
problems with classes, roomates, finding a summer job...and each of us
thought we were the only one.
If you feel uncomfortable dumping on your friends, because you think
your're overburdening them with your problems, you could try finding a
therapist/counselor. If you do that, you are assured that you are
talking to someone who likes listening and, besides, is being paid to
listen, so you know that you aren't putting him/her out of his/her way.
In fact, you're doing a good deed by keeping that person employed!
Nightline or MIT Medical can probably help you find someone suited to
you, and to your relatively low-key needs.
As for birthdays...I like celebrating them quietly, with just one
person. I tend to keep the date quiet because I don't like to be the
spotlight at a party. (One year I invited 8 people over for dinner and
never did tell them why...but I had a good time.) But I do think it's
important, from time to time, to look over the last year and tally up
the positive things you've done. Even if they're little things! And to
remember the people who depend upon you, and think about the good things
that you will do. At the same time, you can look over your mistakes and
think about how not to repeat them. It doesn't have to be done on
birthdays, of course. I do this when I'm feeling empty, to remind
myself that I'm still here and that, for the most part, I'm glad of it.
For me, it works.
