Get over yourself

By nature, we humans are self-involved, self-centered and just plain selfish. Self improvement is the struggle against these other "self" oriented tendencies. Unless we stop ourselves, we tend to get mired in our own needs, wants and problems.

It's like, "Poor me, I gained 5 pounds," or "Poor me, I didn't get that raise I deserved," or "Poor me, I earned an A, and the professor gave me a B," or "Poor me, the person I'm really hot for doesn't give me a second look," or, worse yet, "Poor me, my phone isn't as new as my friend's."

Well, my friends, get the hell over it. You ain't special. Actually you are special, but no more special than any other slob shuffling down the street with foul breath and bad hair.

But, you say, "What can I do about it? I mean, the world is out to screw me, even after my mommy spent years telling me I could be anything I wanted to be." Well, you could, and you did, and this is apparently what you wanted to be. I know it sucks, but it seemed a good idea at the time.

You want some advice? Of course not, but I'm going to give it to you anyway. If you're like 99 percent of us, you're too damn self absorbed, but there's a cure for that, or at least a treatment. Pay attention; this isn't brain surgery.

Get involved in something outside yourself and bigger than yourself. The best way is to volunteer your time for some good cause, something that will help others or the environment, but will not give you money, fame or fortune. The word, and you may have never heard anyone you know say it aloud, is altruism. It's great, and it's easy. Take a bit of it externally each day, and you'll find yourself saying "I," or "me" far less often.