Life is one choice after another, ideally - but hardly always - conscious choices. The choices start with and, consciously or not, return again and again to one's attitude.
When I feel weary, when I feel lazy, when I procrastinate, what is my attitude? In particular, to what extent is my attitude self pity? Self pity - feeling as though I should have something more, or different, than I do - is toxic in any dosage. It is a kind of self righteousness. Self pity tells me that the way things are is not right, or not enough. It rejects what is right and the good things which are plentiful and, to that extent, undermines peace of mind, gratitude, happiness, energy and motivation.
(In my office, I keep a copy of Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand's riveting story of the late Louis Zamperini's travails - an understatement - during World War II, as a warning to myself against, and an antidote to, self-pity.)
