Any time we puff ourselves up — whether to gain attention, power, status, monetary reward, or love — there is a price. Every inflation is followed by a deflation, and then the hot air balloon comes crashing down. A deflation is thinking and acting as if you are less than you really are, a feeling of "not-enoughness." Deflation is displayed through negativity, withdrawal, pulling back, giving up — even shyness. You feel alienated and lonely. At the bottom of a deflation nothing in life is enough or worthwhile.
— Robert A. Johnson, Jerry M. Ruhl, , Contentment by Robert A. Johnson, Jerry M. Ruhl