Ask HN: Has the conflict made you realize yr problems are nothing in comparison
Has the conflict made you realize your problems are a nothing-burger in comparison?
In chronic pain communities, this sort of comparison is often derisively (and correctly so) termed "pain olympics". There's always someone worse off than you, significantly so. That doesn't mean you don't have problems, and it doesn't mean you don't deserve to have your problems taken seriously.
_And_, _also_, I would add that engaging with my own problems creates room & energy needed to deal with those bigger problems. For me, for you, for the government of wherever.
I can do my little nothing-burger things, I can tackle my nothing-burgers, then I can send some money I made to a relief organization, or I can use my gifts to build something helpful that didn't exist before.
Personally I had big regrets after the 2014 conflict, and they involved wishing I had turned both inward and outward, with the inward efforts focusing on energy building & preservation as well as all the outward stuff everybody thinks is doing the "real work". We have to support ourselves, we are only human, and fortunately we can do both--work & create for ourselves, work & create for & with others.
Yes. It's like in a plane; if the oxygen masks pop down, get yours on before helping someone else with theirs, or you both wind up in worse shape.
I think its related, because the discourse ends up shifting to ridiculous and irrelevant problems, while we forget about and lose the ability to defend ourselves in even the most basic way.
I believe we should be helping others as much as possible, regardless of the situation. But in order to help others you need to be satisfied yourselves at least to some extent. Depressed, miserable people don’t help anyone. Maintaining good health and fitness, minimizing stress, and getting your work done ensures you have time and energy you can devote towards selflessness.