Self-pity is a popular commodity in
the WLS community. I often say things like, “You want my pity? Sorry, you can’t have it. I’m saving all of mine for a
truly deserving person – like me.” Let’s
see how Jema and her dog deal with self-pity in today’s Jema & Alice
cartoon, Come to My Pity Party!
* * *
Admit it. You know what self-pity is,
at least well enough to know it at a glance as you trudge on and on towards
your weight goal. So take a look at this cartoon and see if you recognize
anything about it.
In today’s episode of
the WLS adventures of Jema and her faithful dog, dark clouds hang over their
heads and rain a deluge of self-pity onto Jema’s life. What climate condition
started that rain? The cause is an emotional meteorological phenomenon commonly
known as envy. Jema has been comparing her WLS journey to everyone else’s and
comes out crying because they’re all so successful that she’s a failure in
comparison. Or so she believes….
I understand how Jema
feels because if I let them, envy and self-pity walk hand in hand through my
life. They trample right over the good stuff and cultivate the bad stuff. The
kind of stuff that gets me nowhere near my goals.
Jema’s problem today
is that she attended a support group meeting and left it thinking evil thoughts
about another bandster who’d reported a 50-pound weight loss already. Jema had
"only" lost 35 pounds. What was wrong with her? Why was Debbie
Doolittle but not Jema blessed with superior band success? Jema’s been a good
girl too, in fact, a very hard-working and deserving girl. As our heroine wails
in today’s cartoon, “It just isn't fair!” So she throws herself a pity party while
Alice plays the violin. And then?
And then, she dries
her eyes and moves on. She decides to use her rival’s weight loss success as
inspiration instead of punishment, Debbie Doolittle might even have some tips
to share at the next support group meeting. Somehow, some way, Jema’s going to
find the silver lining in her dark cloud.
OK, party’s over.
Back to work!
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