Victorians Were Right

I don't mean to say they were right about everything. In fact, there were some things they were definitely wrong about, but they were absolutely correct when talking about keeping a stiff upper lip.

The point is, sometimes it's good to talk about your problems, but nowadays folks are encouraged to talk about their problems all the freaking time! We are supposed to let everything hang out and to bare our souls to perfect strangers.

In my opinion, it's wrong on several levels: first, it teaches people to complain and feel themselves victims and to relish this feeling, second, it discourages privacy and encourages familiarity, and as we all know, familiarity breeds contempt; and finally, the worst thing about it all is the fact that once you let yourself go, once your self-control breaks down, it's often too difficult to get it back. Once you start feeling yourself a helpless victim you establish a pattern which is often nearly impossible to break.

Further on, I have never noticed that when you are miserable, talking about it helps. In fact, the more you talk of it, the more miserable you feel. I also don't get it when those suffering from some dangerous disease and their family members are encouraged to attend meetings where the experts will keep informing them about how much more worse it's going to become in the near future. But, I guess, to each its own. Apparently, misery really likes company:)