Do you think that embitterment is inherently coupled with stagnation ?

[m19834]

I have observed people whom are seemingly bitter at times.  They feel that people are not grateful enough, not respecting enough, and even though this may indeed be true, I suspect that at the bottom of it all, the person simply does not "like" the way their life is going and perhaps just does not know what to do about it.  They are feeling stagnate and stuck.  The anger and bitterness is more a projection onto others of feeling stagnate in one's own life.

I am wondering if perhaps "movement" is the key to progress, though I suppose it's possible to be outwardly moving and inwardly stagnate.  Or outwardly stationary and inwardly progressing.

What do you think ?

[momopi]

embitterment and stagnation? hmmm...

I think these "moments" could always serve some purpose in later life. Feeling of stagnation is just a feeling. Life goes on.

if perhaps "movement" is the key to progress

Positivistic 19th century continental thinking? Well, I'm not a person who's looking for some kind of linear progress. I guess my mind works differently. But then again movement is not synonymous to linear progress, so I may be understanding this differently. Pardon me if my understanding is different from what you've intended to say.

it's possible to be outwardly moving and inwardly stagnate

I think so too...

The anger and bitterness is more a projection onto others of feeling stagnate in one's own life.

I have experienced this several times over the last 10 years. (Bad childhood?) I realized it's not just stagnation, but sometimes it also involves vanity. We can be angry or bitter because we're not given due credit, enough attention, enough caring, etc. Like how can this be happening to the great me? Like a rich, former high-school honor student who suddenly found herself to be among the mediocre minds in the university, and that she's one of them. (I was never an honor student neither am I rich, thank god. At least, I do not partake of that horrible Asian stereotype). Or like a woman who always rejects men but got rejected by the man she actually pursued.

We feel life is being unfair to us - that life is cheating on us. But life is never fair. Prolonged anger and bitterness are perfectly understandable, esp for people who experienced war, rape, and all those horrible things - big or small - that could happen to a person. But I've seen bitterness taken to extremes in most simple situations. Sometimes I see bitterness in others (and in me) that were simply out of proportion that leads me to think - Aha, that person is just being vain. Give him/her another person who will load up praises for him/her, s/he'll definitely get out of the rut.

[debussy symbolism]

Wow what a huge genious you are. Of course embitterment is concomitant with stagnation. When you are mad at something, you are preoccupied with it, therefore, aren't moving along. I would think it is obvious.

[rc]

We feel life is being unfair to us - that life is cheating on us. But life is never fair. Prolonged anger and bitterness are perfectly understandable, esp for people who experienced war, rape, and all those horrible things - big or small - that could happen to a person. But I've seen bitterness taken to extremes in most simple situations. Sometimes I see bitterness in others (and in me) that were simply out of proportion that leads me to think - Aha, that person is just being vain. Give him/her another person who will load up praises for him/her, s/he'll definitely get out of the rut.

I like your point about vanity.  Though I would argue that life is often fair, in the sense that the bitter people I know are in some way directly causing their bitterness.  K makes the good point too, they're all stagnant.

I have one friend who would be a good example of bitterness through vanity.  One of his favorite topics is how hard his life has been, yet he lives off his parents, has loads of free time which he mostly spends with video games, gambling, drinking.  In company if the topic isn't about something related to him, he gets pouty.  Sometimes being around this guy feels like babysitting a 2 year old, he has such little concept of anything beyond himself.  I can only bear being around him about once/month

Another friend, who is generally a good fellow, has a lot of bitterness towards society.  It's not hard to get him furiously ranting.  I'm fairly sure the reason for this is that he's always been told the negative things about society by his parents.  So he sees all the bad and none of the good...  And being close to his family, nearly every day he gets some bit of predigested news (he doesn't read much himself) that leaves him indignant at the world.

Because of this bitterness at the world, he only grudgingly participates in it.  So, stagnation results.  I remember how angry he was that the gas company charged him a reconnection fee after he'd not payed his bills for a couple months.  Should they just give him free gas and not disconnect him?  Or should they take time out of doing something more useful to drive over to his house to reconnect it for nothing?

[momopi]

Wow what a huge genious you are. Of course embitterment is concomitant with stagnation. When you are mad at something, you are preoccupied with it, therefore, aren't moving along. I would think it is obvious.

I beg to differ. For some people, embitterment can serve as a drive for (self) improvement, esp if they look at their embittered selves in a mature way.

And being mad at something is different from being embittered. (Real) embitterment - for me - is more like a result of a series of life's disappointments. It is also a certain negative outlook on life.

As for moving along, I agree with the OP that it is possible to be >

outwardly moving and inwardly stagnate and outwardly stationary and inwardly progressing.

As for the vanity I've mentioned earlier - I've mentioned that because it's the kind of bitterness I am most familiar with. I've seen it in myself and among my peers.

[db05]

I am wondering if perhaps "movement" is the key to progress, though I suppose it's possible to be outwardly moving and inwardly stagnate.  Or outwardly stationary and inwardly progressing.

What do you think ?

I don't think it's possible to be inwardly progressing and outwardly stationary. An inward progress or idea will drive you to do something different. Otherwise, it's still a kind of rut: you have an idea but fail to do anything about it.

Outwardly progressing an inwardly stationary sounds like what I do sometimes: go around in circles. So in a bigger perspective, am not moving either.

The key to progress is inspired action.

[debussy symbolism]

I beg to differ. For some people, embitterment can serve as a drive for (self) improvement, esp if they look at their embittered selves in a mature way.

And being mad at something is different from being embittered. (Real) embitterment - for me - is more like a result of a series of life's disappointments. It is also a certain negative outlook on life.

As for moving along, I agree with the OP that it is possible to be >

As for the vanity I've mentioned earlier - I've mentioned that because it's the kind of bitterness I am most familiar with. I've seen it in myself and among my peers.

Heh, silly children. Almost all people will be stagnated by embitterment. It is very hard to avoid stagnation with embitterment.

[momopi]

You are right. Maybe I'm thinking too much.