🚀 go-pugleaf

alex@cts.com (Steve Alexander) writes:
|Just wanted to interject a thought about "someone who inspires me" phrase

|above. I hear this sort of sentiment from time to time. E.g. "someone
hurt 
|(emotionally) me", "someone insulted me", "someone made me upset". 

How about "someone hit me over the head with a bat"?

|It seems to me that these are all examples of avoiding responsibility for

|one's own ability in the area of feelings. I think that the only person
who 
|can make me happy is me. The only one who can upset me is me. The only
person 
|who can inspire me is me. 

I'm sorry, but that just sounds like so much bumper-sticker psychology to
me. What self-help guru are you quoting here?

|I have no control over the actions of others, but I have 100% control
over how 
|I react to them.

Oh, come on now! Are you suggesting that I can just decide to fall in love
with whomever I choose? If that was true, I would have done it long ago.
Believe me, I've tried.

I have just about zero control over my feelings. It takes me two seconds
to lose my heart, and months to get it back. Even so, I'm not even sure I
would want that kind of control. I would probably end up in the same sorry
state as my last boyfriend, who has so much control over his feelings that
he can't feel anything at all.

Sue (who hasn't gotten it back just yet)
-----
What I feel, I can't say                                 - George Harrison