I know this is not universal, as people with anxiety issues, for example, tend to actually find this a negative thing more often than not (they'll start beating themselves up for not being "as good" as others or lose confidence in themselves by knowing others are succeeding. They will end up thinking too much of the present situation, and not the possible actions they can take to rectify it). But I've found the majority of people I've come across appreciate hearing the experiences of others, regardless of relatability. I wasn't presenting my experience solely because of relatability (I never assume what I described in my deleted post could be relatable to anyone - it's too out there and out of the ordinary, so I'd be surprised if anybody connected with it, even though I've already met someone who does), but rather because inspiration and motivation can come from even the most bizarre of situations, even from someone saying "if I could handle it, so can you", which is more or less along the lines of what I was saying. Me saying something like that is actually a conscious gamble I make - it could motivate, or it could demotivate.
And while this was not my intention, and I avoid doing it as it's quite a dark and risky way of doing things - is this universally a negative thing? Having someone to contest with on any level is a good motivator and can create positive feelings. If someone felt like it was a contest of who has it worse, they could always be the better person and stop caring about that, and tell their "rival" that they resolve to fix their problems regardless of whether or not others have it worse. This is pretty much what I started doing, and is something I constantly do - my mother loves trying to be the center of sympathy, and constantly tries to make things a contest of "who has it worse", and I've found it to actually be a good way to feel better about myself! :Va contest of who has it worse
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-I have quite a bit of work to do.
-I'm worried about my physique right now.
-Still haven't heard back from BeyondGaming.
+One more week until my break.
+I may be getting my new laptop tomorrow!
+NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams should arrive in my door this week, at long last.
Still preferred them over the spiders though.
