Unfortunately, it sounds like he has a bit of a victimhood mentality and doesn't have any desire to actually do anything to change his situation. Sadly, there is no shortage of people like this.
The "I get it, you won't help me" sounds a bit manipulative as well. With many things in life, other people cannot do them for you, you have to do them yourself.
I'm glad you can see how his behavior and mentality are not working for him, and that you don't want to be the same. I grew up with someone from a very similar family who unfortunately seems to think it's normal, has no concept of personal responsibility (or any type of responsibility for that matter), and is going down exactly the same path. The family loves to blame everything on bad luck, though in their case, they created their own luck. I'm glad you can break the mold and do better for yourself.
Regardless of whether you're religious or not, I find the "Serenity Prayer" to be great words to live by:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference."
In other words, if there are things you don't like about your life, recognize whether or not you can do anything to change them, and if you can, make a plan to. It took me entirely too long to realize the level of control I really had over my own life, and adopting this mindset has been one of the best things I've ever done.
Is my dad normal?
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Unfortunately, it sounds like he has a bit of a victimhood mentality and doesn't have any desire to actually do anything to change his situation. Sadly, there is no shortage of people like this.
The "I get it, you won't help me" sounds a bit manipulative as well. With many things in life, other people cannot do them for you, you have to do them yourself.
I'm glad you can see how his behavior and mentality are not working for him, and that you don't want to be the same. I grew up with someone from a very similar family who unfortunately seems to think it's normal, has no concept of personal responsibility (or any type of responsibility for that matter), and is going down exactly the same path. The family loves to blame everything on bad luck, though in their case, they created their own luck. I'm glad you can break the mold and do better for yourself.
Regardless of whether you're religious or not, I find the "Serenity Prayer" to be great words to live by:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference."
In other words, if there are things you don't like about your life, recognize whether or not you can do anything to change them, and if you can, make a plan to. It took me entirely too long to realize the level of control I really had over my own life, and adopting this mindset has been one of the best things I've ever done.