My pregnant wife [26F] staged an intervention and wants me [25M] to quit my job...

Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source.

You feel insecure in yourself, you are afraid of how you appear. You cannot be afraid, you have to learn to let go of fear. You are soon to be a father, but you are afraid of not looking like a man. It's time to stop being afraid and be one.

It might help to reframe how you look at it. Don't look at it as being a little boy running home to mommy and daddy. You are a father doing what is best for his child. If some people laugh at you so be it, you know what you are doing is right.

Seriously if you want some help with this whole honor thing go watch Avatar the Last Airbender and pay special attention to the character Zuko. His entire story is about being ashamed and trying to regain honor. He is the one most concerned with looking foolish because he is the one preoccupied with it.

In the same way you are preoccupied with shame so you are inflating the problem of moving back in with your parents. People did it for thousands of years, it's not shameful to need help. It's very smart to work with those who love you to make everyone stronger.

I brought up Zuko because his whole thing relies on him realizing that he can't do anything to stop feeling so ashamed. He has to come to realize that his expectations on himself are causing his shame. So he can never do an action that will make him stop feeling ashamed, he has to let go of something instead.

There is a view you hold of yourself that you need to prove. Which is going to blind you to what you can and can't do in the now. You can move in with your parents to give your child the best chance. You can't instantly restructure our society to make it possible for you to raise your child in the same economic environment your parents raised you. You can focus on building a future where your child may have more opportunities than you.

Let go of who you feel society is telling you to be and focus on being the best husband, father and self you can be.

/r/relationships Thread