Originally Posted by
xristoff 
Question for all.....how do u stop self pity from setting in ...in early recovery... I get a bit sober and the reality that im 49 and really have no career or own anything of value. Like a career job or a pension or a house....then i start comparing to guys i graduated with...all Vps. Big houses....almost ready for early retirement...
And i get down.......
I struggle with that too. My best friend as a young child went on to become a wildly successful attorney, was elected mayor of her town, and went on to run for state legislature. She is full-on wealthy.
You might not like my method of cranking my thinking back to reality, but here goes:
Other people had advantages that I did not, and still do not, have - such as mental health and inherited wealth. However, I have enjoyed more advantages than the grand majority of the population of the planet. It is just not a lot compared to others in the USA.
My alcoholic brother died at age 40 without ever having known sobriety, happiness or having any place of his own (he lived with mom and dad his whole life). He never dated, fell in love, nothing. He had dementia by the point he died. At 40 years old, his brain was already pickled, and he had never had a life. I cannot write that without crying.
I was born pretty poor, and still am pretty poor. But I (like all of us here in the free world) have enjoyed more wealth and creature comfort than 99% of the people who
ever walked the face of this Earth.
TODAY 35,000+ children will starve to death, and that happens every single day.
Then I think, "Who am I to feel sorry for myself?"