So, I had someone recently tell me that they did not care about me because I do not care about me. [View all]
That has made me dwell on the concept that was suggested. Namely, the idea that the capacity to care about someone being connected to whether or not that person cares about themselves. (Or at least the person offering said caring's perception of whether or not the recipient cares at least. The recipient may not care about themselves, but will pretend to care to placate the person offering concern and care. This is dishonest, of course, and is not what I was doing in any event. I have always been upfront about my own self-worth and how I see it.) I have given this a lot of thought and I cannot say that I put such restrictions on whether or not I would care about a person. So, I wanted to open this one up to the room.
What do you lot think about this concept? Is your caring contingent on the other's capacity to self-care? Do you place such restrictions on your level of caring? Does doing so mean that you would not care about a fellow human being because they don't meet your criteria for caring and would therefore be not 'worthy' of your concern? Now, I am not talking about those who put forth effort into another just to have that person continue to fall and fail and finally saying that they cannot help any more. To say such a thing in the context of trying over and over to help that person and not getting anywhere is one thing. I am talking about just simple concern for a fellow human being restricted by that human's level of self-concern. As 'Linda Richmond' from SNL would say, "Talk amongst yourselves."
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