There's a saying that the cut from a loved one or trusted ally is often the deepest. Many of us have not been cut by loved ones but by ourselves. Some of us have continued untrstrained on a self-sabotaging voyage. There're several ways one can consciously or unconsciously inflict pain on themselves, and sabotage their chances of turning out just fine.
When we drown ourselves in getting our validation from others instead of from the uniqueness of our purposes and whom we are created as, a major problem is created. Often, people who live like this are mostly undecided on anything. They've no mind of their own, even when the right path to take is so clear before them. They're always caught between opinions and while at it, great opportunities would pass them by. Why seek validation from someone who doesn't have your blueprint?
Another way people self-inflict pain is through self-deprecation. Talking down on yourself while thinking it equates humility is destructive. Why sell yourself short and think it doesn't matter. The value you fail to place on yourself would never be placed on you by others. In the midst of all the happenings around David, he said this of himself, "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well" (Ps. 139:14). Being self conscious made it impossible for him to lose his battles.
