Feeling Sorry for Yourself

What good does feeling sorry for yourself do? Fr. Mike points out a
hard truth in saying—while you have the right to grieve when tragic
things happen in your life—you never have the right, or permission,
to feel sorry for yourself. All it does is shrink the universe down
to the size of you. It blocks out the blessings God gave you that
you should be thankful for, and paralyzes you from joyfully giving
to others. When you feel the temptation to feel sorry for yourself
coming on, in the words of St. Paul, Fr. Mike recommends: “Let the
peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were
called in the one body. And be thankful” (Colossians 3:15). Quote
from G.I. Jane: “I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A bird
will fall frozen dead from a bough without ever having felt sorry
for itself” (Viggo Mortensen as Master Chief John James Urgayle in
G.I. Jane, original quote from D.H. Lawrence, 20th century English
writer).