I’m so sorry you feel this way, still, and that the bitterness - the pain and frustration - has taken deeper root.

One thing my Mom always tells me, especially when depression tries to wrap itself around me: if satan can steal our joy, he can steal our goods - even the ones in store for us!

It is so difficult to retain trust and hope in humanity after being so poorly treated and sorely disappointed. But not all women are whores (seems like it sometimes, but that is another issue!). Not all are shallow and self-centered…but nor are any of us perfect! I know several sweet, kind, Godly young women waiting for husbands as well, and they are older than I…I, who was an ‘old maid’ on her wedding day. They say some of the same things about men that you do about women - that men are shallow and look them over because they are ten or thirty pounds overweight, don’t have expensive clothing, aren’t interested in nightclubs and so forth. It’s heartbreaking.

I think you need to try - try! - to cultivate hope. Where women are untrustworthy, God still is. Trust in Him, let him break up the hard, dry soil and turn it into something soft and able to grow fruit again. Like Bill said, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. I’ve met very attractive people who, upon my getting to know them better, became very unattractive - physically as well as on a personal basis - because of their personalities. It’s like an aura, and God’s children are particularly perceptive to it.

Casey is right…the Beast had to let Belle in, let her get close to him before anything began to develop. While he was prickly and demanding, she couldn’t reveal her true, normal self to him, and he couldn’t to her.

The beast did let Belle IN…just an observation…

Irina, sometimes only God can control the circumstances.

Bill, thanks for the edifying and encouraging words. I didn’t know people like you still existed!

The Victim mentality is what Satan wants you to have. I lived that way for a long time, It destroyed me and it will you too if you let it. Those of us who aren’t one of the “beautiful people” sometimes help fulfill our own destiny by believing we are less than what God created. Our only hope is to see ourselves through God’s loving eyes and that is only accomplished by spending time with him in prayer and Bible study. I truly felt for you when I read this. Remember this, “What a Man thinketh in his heart, so is he”
Do your best to become what God meant for you to be, His little boy, his precious one at that. His unconditional love will save your heart from becoming hardened, it’s free. God Bless you sir.

But the same can be said about everyone else! However, I’m sure you’ve been a “victim” of good circumstances in so many ways… Besides, if you continue to stay passive and wait for something bad to happen, it will, but if you resist and take control of the circumstances, then you’ll no longer be a victim!

I’m reminded of Curly’s (from the Three Stooges) famous phrase, “I’m a victim of a circumstance!” It’s sobering though how much I’ve been the victim of so many bad circumstances, almost as if life itself was conspiring against me. :eek:

I think that if fate controlled you completely, then life itself would be meaningless. There are social and natural conditions beyond our control, but at least to some extent, we’re capable of exercising choice.