Okay so I think I have figured out the meaning behind my ire whereupon I hear a specific phrase that is meant to administer (what I assume is) comfort. Why anyone would care is beyond me, but hey... I'm rocking my spiral, just like Susan (and John) said...

I guess it is misguided to call it a phrase, as I can't really narrow it down with such specificity; it comes in many a guise. But the idea is such - that all situations are never so bad as they could not be infinitely worse as demonstrated by [fill in the blank here]... and without fail, there is always some immediate example just itchin' to be used for just such a coddling admonishment. Okay, that's not fair... that I speak in such scathing terms of an act of comfort that more often than not is meant for just that: comfort. And you know, thinking on it now, I feel as though my shame for not having recognized the situation (aloud?) before it being called to my attention is what makes me lash out... but therein lies my conundrum, that I lash out. That it brings my any consternation at all is unsettling to me, but I feel it is somewhat justified...

It is my opinion that when a situation of greater severity than one's own is called to attention, it produces - initially - the desired effect of assuaging frustration... but I think that this assuagement is laced with - I personally feel - what might be contempt for the individual providing the comparison as well as the individuals involved in the situation of greater severity. Basically, we transfer the energy expended on our self pity into scorn for those who have it worse off than we do. Or at least that kind of feels how I react... and frankly, I am ashamed of this. It's a cruel thought, and I would do well to not say this when met with just such a situation as mention before.

Is it necessary to compare? I mean... we are alone in this world - we are utterly alone. The world exists because we open our eyes to see it, and a trillion different worlds exist because of each of a trillion sets of eyes. Therefore, is it really a good idea to compare? One might say that it is simply because it puts our insignificance in perspective... and it does, but then one must take into account the general self-centeredness and egoism that is the human way. And suddenly, it might be safe to venture that we as singular human beings would not look at it as a verification of our own insignificance but rather that of others, whether actual or imagined. And that's no bueno.

But then why not just be an egoist all one's self? Does that justify it? Nope... not in the slightest. And that's where awareness comes in... we have to realize our insignificance and accept that it is not such a negative thing. As the Buddhist saying goes, "you are already complete. You just do not realize it", whereupon one might then hear "when you do something, burn yourself completely"... we are not here to amass, we are here to disintegrate. Whoa... we are here to disintegrate.