The Cure for Battered Democrat Syndrome

[bain_sidhe]

I've seen a lot of posts lately that echo - perhaps not precisely, but closely - the main elements of "battered woman (or spouse) syndrome":

1. The woman believes that the violence was her fault.
2. The woman has an inability to place the responsibility for the violence elsewhere.
3. The woman fears for her life and/or her children's lives.
4. The woman has an irrational belief that the abuser is omnipresent and omniscient.

Not #3 so much, but I've seen several posts from people who at least purport to be Democrats, blaming "ourselves" for not doing better in recent elections, posts not putting the blame for the hideous legislation passed recently where it belongs - on the publicans who wrote it and made sure it got to the floor for a vote, and posts ascribing some magical, omnipotent power to the pukes (and Karl Rove).

I know "rhymed couplets" are not well thought of in poetry circles, but they have one thing going for them, they sure stick in your brain better than free-form poetry. So, to my fellow battered Democrats, I offer a mind-worm to help you buck up and ... er... "stay the course" for these last 13 days:

If you think you're beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't;
If you'd like to win, but think, you can't
It's almost a cinch you won't.
If you think you will lose, you're lost;
For out in the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow's will,
It's all in the state of mind.

If you think you're outclassed, you are;
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to hustle before
You can ever win a prize.
Life's battles don't always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the one who thinks he can.

-- Walter D. Wintle, "The Man Who Thinks He Can"

If that doesn't work for you, here are a couple of others:

"In my life, I have prayed but one prayer: 'Oh Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it."
-- Voltaire

"The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed."
--Steven Biko

And my personal favorite:

"The future is all around us, waiting in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation."
-- G'Kar, Babylon 5, "Z'ha'dum"

Of course, if none of those work, there's always this:

"You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe."
--Marcus Cole, Babylon 5, A Late Delivery from Avalon

How about you? Got any favorites that keep you going?

[longship]

1. Read my sig.

:-)

[JeffR]

3. excellent

:patriot:

[bain_sidhe]

4. good one! Keep 'em coming!

Here's one that I've always liked, although it doesn't relate specifically:

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."
--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Oh! And

"It ain't what you don't know that'll hurt you - it's what you do know that ain't true."
-- Will Rogers

[JeffR]

2. My sig speaks for me too.

[bain_sidhe]

5. That's another good one!

Still looking for more. I want upbeat, people!!! Enough of the gloom and doom!!

[JeffR]

6. Thanks

Kicked again!

:kick:

[bain_sidhe]

7. Thanks for the kick!

But, alas, I must go to bed now, so the thread will probably sink. But, that's ok. I (hopefully) injected at least a bit of optimism and spunk into the "debate."

My work here is done. Well, not done, but done for today. :-)

[JeffR]

8. Ya did good.

[Beartracks]

9. Gotta greet each new day fresh!

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson