I love that, even when you tell self-involved people outright that they are such, and they hear you, they always have a priceless response: you're right, I am self involved, I am so terrible, my self involvement is a really big problem for me, I'm not nearly good enough. and on and on with the song and dance.
How in the world can one ever escape his own self involvement?? it may seem impossible. but believe it or not it can be done. I'll give you a line, even...
"How are you?" three words.
of course you have to just leave your own issues alone for a couple of minutes to listen for the response and hear it, which might come as a challenge, I mean how will you survive without your issues?!? but these three words are a great starting place. The beginning of the awareness that there are other people in the world. complex people. worthwhile people. and the fact that it is meaningful to experience someone else's reality as it simply exists. when you live inside your own head thinking you're the only one on the planet, you're really missing out on a lot. you might be missing out on everything.
A couple of things that renew/reaffirm my faith in a force bigger than myself:
1. irony
2. closure, hindsight
