Between what lines are you seeing that?
You have all the right in the world to cope with your problems…or not cope with them. And if you never work a day in your life, you have that right as well. But we have the right to judge you, especially when you throw it up in our face all beligerantly. You do NOT have the right to escape the same kind of judgement and social criticism that we’re all subjected to. Expecting otherwise is expecting special treatment.
There are no right or wrong feelings (I’ve learned this through therapy). If you feel pain, no one can tell you you’re wrong to feel that way. But expecting the world to cater to your feelings, or to understand your feelings in any extra-sensitive way, IS a character flaw because you’re giving yourself more importance than you actually deserve.
Just as none of us know how serious your problems are, you don’t know how serious other people’s problems are. When I’m feeling really bad, it helps to imagine that everyone else around me is coping with worse problems and that they, like me, are just staying quiet about it. Not only does this keep me from feeling sorry for myself and complain too much about my difficulties, but it also compels me not to surrender to the pain. I suppose one day it might get to be too much to handle, but I’m not going to sit around and wait for that day to come.
That’s not to say you aren’t right, though. Some people don’t get it. One woman I worked with declared that no one living in America had the right to be depressed, and I wanted to yell at her, “Let’s see how happy you are with kooky voices echoing in your head all day long!” I cope with jackasses like her by telling myself that, at least in that instance, I’m a wiser, more compassionate person.
