Poll: pick what life means to you by chrisisall

Grey.

-F

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Thursday, October 24, 2013 9:10 PM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

To be honest, it's 2. If we are in a position so that we can make it more into 1, then all the better.

But it's definitely 2.

Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen

Resident USA Freedom Fundie

" AU, that was great, LOL!! " - Chrisisall

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Thursday, October 24, 2013 9:45 PM

JONGSSTRAW

1 is nice, but history teaches us that you can't have 1 if you don't do 2. I can only imagine how the enlightened citizens of Paris felt when their country surrendered to the Nazis; sitting in their bistros along the Champs- Élysées sipping cafe au laits watching Hitler's troops come marching into their lives on June 14, 1940. Wouldn't be much "tapestry of creation and exploration" going on for the next 4+ years.

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Thursday, October 24, 2013 10:07 PM

GEEZER

Keep the Shiny side up

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
An admittedly black & white choice here...

1. Life is a rich tapestry of creation and exploration and discovery in which we strive to encourage the best in Human nature and progress to a better tomorrow for us and our posterity.

2. Life is a struggle to protect what we hold dear from those who would seek to destroy or subvert our way of life and peaceful existence.

1 or 2?

Yes.

"When your heart breaks, you choose what to fill the cracks with. Love or hate. But hate won't ever heal. Only love can do that."

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Thursday, October 24, 2013 10:58 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:
Grey.

I expected no less from you. Funny that Geezer posted more or less the same.

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Thursday, October 24, 2013 11:54 PM

It used to be 1. It really did.

Then I grew up....

P.S. I asked something like this some years back, btw...

http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=11&tid=46404&mid=81808
1#818081

Also, I logged into the name I had when I first came here, and I used to be waaay happier then...

Maybe it was just the initial high of finding a place that made sense to me and that finally wore off?

Maybe I've read waay toooo many bad news stories and have started seeing all people as potential psychopaths??

Maybe it was me realizing that there are only three people in the entire world that have ever cared a minute about me...out of 8 BILLION people...

Maybe it was the realization that my genes are cursed and I'm probably gonna die a horrible death...no, really it's now 99.9% certain (as now my mother has cancer as well and that makes 10 in the last 20 years) and that NO ONE can fix me...

Maybe it was realizing that my living hasn't been so great either, and that it doesn't stand a chance of changing anytime soon...

Maybe it was realizing there is not anything at all anyone can do to save this mudball on a path to hell?

Whatever is was that changed....I don't think I'm going to find any kind of peace with humanity ever again....I don't think there's any kind of drug or religion or moment that will ever fix what I've lost, and the sad thing is I don't feel anything about THAT either....

I've heard it said that the internets never forgets anything, and that one day every word that will have ever have been written will be a part of a new omniscient consciousness.....I sure hope IT can figure out what went wrong here, 'cause I just dunno

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Friday, October 25, 2013 2:22 AM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

I hate to be a weasel about it but - life is what we collecively as a species make it. With even the simplest technology there's more than enough resources to keep us as individuals alive, secure and comfortable until we reach the end of our natural lifespans. There's enough to do that wihout bankrupting our children. They could enjoy all the comfort and security of the previous generation. There's enough to keep the human species comfortable and secure indefinitely. As long as we as individuals and as a group take just enough, and have just enough children.

That we choose to do otherwise, makes it not an intrinsic shortcoming in life, but a shortcoming of our choices.

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Friday, October 25, 2013 3:31 AM

AGENTROUKA

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
An admittedly black & white choice here...

1. Life is a rich tapestry of creation and exploration and discovery in which we strive to encourage the best in Human nature and progress to a better tomorrow for us and our posterity.

2. Life is a struggle to protect what we hold dear from those who would seek to destroy or subvert our way of life and peaceful existence.

1 or 2?

I lean toward 1. I know I'm not besieged by the sort of traumatizing conditions that would foster 2, which is a position of privilege, but I'm also fairly convinced that in order to achieve scenario 1 you have to believe in it, even in a situation that reflects 2. Most importantly, you asked about meaning, not practical condition, of life. It's a sad scenario where the meaning, the point and purpose of life is constant struggle against an "other".

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Friday, October 25, 2013 4:00 AM

SHINYGOODGUY

#3

Life, it seems, is a grand mixture of 1 and 2.

SGG

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Friday, October 25, 2013 11:55 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

1, easily. Whatever the WORLD may be, it's up to us what WE want to be. Obviously it's a very black-and-white choice, but I've tried to live "1" and had a damned good life out of it without resorting to "2".

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Friday, October 25, 2013 12:15 PM

WHOZIT

3, somtimes life sucks, other times everything is niffty. Today I'm having a "so-so" day.

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Friday, October 25, 2013 12:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
It used to be 1. It really did.

Then I grew up....

P.S. I asked something like this some years back, btw...

http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.aspx?bid=11&tid=46404&mid=81808
1#818081

Also, I logged into the name I had when I first came here, and I used to be waaay happier then...

Maybe it was just the initial high of finding a place that made sense to me and that finally wore off?

Maybe I've read waay toooo many bad news stories and have started seeing all people as potential psychopaths??

Maybe it was me realizing that there are only three people in the entire world that have ever cared a minute about me...out of 8 BILLION people...

Maybe it was the realization that my genes are cursed and I'm probably gonna die a horrible death...no, really it's now 99.9% certain (as now my mother has cancer as well and that makes 10 in the last 20 years) and that NO ONE can fix me...

Maybe it was realizing that my living hasn't been so great either, and that it doesn't stand a chance of changing anytime soon...

Maybe it was realizing there is not anything at all anyone can do to save this mudball on a path to hell?

Whatever is was that changed....I don't think I'm going to find any kind of peace with humanity ever again....I don't think there's any kind of drug or religion or moment that will ever fix what I've lost, and the sad thing is I don't feel anything about THAT either....

I've heard it said that the internets never forgets anything, and that one day every word that will have ever have been written will be a part of a new omniscient consciousness.....I sure hope IT can figure out what went wrong here, 'cause I just dunno

:(

I feel you. As someone who's been bitter and cynical since the ripe old age of five, with a congenital fused vertebrae deformity, a heart condition, and family history of blood clots, cancer, brain tumors, mental illness, and early on-set dementia, I know exactly how you feel.

You can't fix you. You can't even help other people - I've tried and failed. The entire universe is against all of us. And no one cares. About all you can do is fight and keep trying. Even if it's futile, even if it doesn't matter, even if no one cares. Because the alternative is worse.

We're more than the sum of our problems. We're what we do in SPITE of them.

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Friday, October 25, 2013 9:12 PM

Why Byte, you are Buffy!

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Friday, October 25, 2013 9:50 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

From a black and white question, a rich tapestry of ideas.

Clearly, (1).

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Friday, October 25, 2013 10:17 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

WISH

Quote:
Maybe it was the realization that my genes are cursed and I'm probably gonna die a horrible death...no, really it's now 99.9% certain (as now my mother has cancer as well and that makes 10 in the last 20 years) and that NO ONE can fix me...

My dd has been brain-damaged since birth. Nobody's fault (except the Dr who didn't C-section). Nobody can "fix" her either. Does that mean her entire life is a "waste"? (only if you think we're all measured by "efficiency".)

Quote:
Maybe it was realizing that my living hasn't been so great either, and that it doesn't stand a chance of changing anytime soon...

What, if anything, can we do to help?

Quote:
Maybe it was realizing there is not anything at all anyone can do to save this mudball on a path to hell?

The mudball will survive without us. We will hurt mainly ourselves.

Quote:
Whatever is was that changed....I don't think I'm going to find any kind of peace with humanity ever again....I don't think there's any kind of drug or religion or moment that will ever fix what I've lost, and the sad thing is I don't feel anything about THAT either....

Then you'll find a new place.

Quote:
I've heard it said that the internets never forgets anything, and that one day every word that will have ever have been written will be a part of a new omniscient consciousness.....I sure hope IT can figure out what went wrong here, 'cause I just dunno

The only thing that went wrong is that we failed to achieve consciousness.

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Friday, October 25, 2013 11:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Why Byte, you are Buffy!

...Great. Apparently I am a cheerleader.

Wish, I did mean what I said. Even if it sounds really melodramatic to everyone else.

I hope you're doing okay. Post soon. Concerned.

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Friday, October 25, 2013 11:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:
Originally posted by FREMDFIRMA:
Grey.
I expected no less from you. Funny that Geezer posted more or less the same.

Aye, but with me it is BECAUSE the world is so savage, so awful, at times, I feel a moral compulsion to spit in the eye of a system that rewards malice via acts of decency.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheAntiNihilist

You totally would have appreciated Thursday though, spotted a homeless person near an I-94 exit ramp I was passing by, so I came back around - I've taken to keeping a smallish ziplock of useful items for someone homeless in my glovebox cause I've been there and it sucks... seems a "thing" these days but mine is more cleverly packed since I have a better idea of what the most critical physical/emotional needs are.

Anyhows, I pull off into the grass and do my usual open hands approach cause a lot of them are skittish, and this damn local cop (to that area, the ones round here leave me alone) rolls in behind me, probably to move said homeless person along - and seriously, what is that shit, move along, move along, TO FUCKIN WHERE ? like they should just roll over and die for our convenience ? Fuck. That. Noise.
And so as I had off the baggie, officer moron has to pitch in his two penniesworth and insinuate he could bust me for that, which is bullshit as the only place around here which even has an (unenforceable) anti-panhandling act is Ann Arbor and that's down the road and out of his jurisdiction anyways... and, well, I don't reccommend this and maybe it wasn't the smartest thing to do given the rabidity of current law enforcement these days, but given I work for a tough lawyer and have an even meaner one on retainer, I looked him right in the eye and told him "Fuck You, go ahead and try."

He spent about a second and a half considering it, I guess, then stormed back to his cruiser in a huff and tore off on his merry, good friggin riddance - guess he didn't like the idea of the potential media shitstorm that could provoke and besides he was alone, and the badges are a pack mentality, whatever.

It just seems like a certain deliberate, malicious cruelty has crept into us, I keep hearing over and over of places deliberately destroying food or clothing in lieu of donation, even when it makes no financial sense, and places trying to criminalize poverty and homelessness, even around here it's starting to become so, not only did they close Take-Notice for no reason whatever...
http://www.heritage.com/articles/2013/08/14/ann_arbor_journal/news/doc
520bc1923cbf6194689597.txt?viewmode=fullstory

But now some management company has taken over three apartment complexes near us and booted all the section 8 people right the hell out, and where are they gonna GO, hell for that matter what are they gonna survive on, given the cuts to SNAP and that goddamn EBT debacle right on top of it, which does make my job a bit harder by causing a plethora of hungry, angry, often desperate people right across the street from the apartment complex I do security for, don't you know - so I got a nice front row seat to the RESULTS of this malicious insanity.

And while I am all in favor of putting boots up the ass of dickheads who sponsor, support and endorse such things, as well as their enablers (hint: That means YOU, rightwingnuts) I got no problem with throwing a little help to the folks I *can* help, few that this is, and getting in the way of that on purpose just to be a dick is a good way to run up my temper in a damn hurry.

I might not be of that faith, but I've as of late hammered a couple Christians over the head with one from their own beliefs - you didn't see Jesus checking incomes when he handed out the loaves and the fishes, didja ?
You gonna help people, then help em, don't whine and weasel and make excuses, and don't starve ninety-eight of em cause two might not need it, that's just bullshit.

Mercy and Kindness are weapons every bit as effective as bombs, and once given, no force on this earth can revoke them.
We, individually, en masse, even a little at a time, each of us, has the ability, and moral imperative, to take that #2 and MAKE it into a #1.
I might not be very "nice", but I really MEAN it, you see.

-Frem

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Friday, October 25, 2013 11:16 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by SIGNYM:
The only thing that went wrong is that we failed to achieve consciousness.

Civilization is a BEGINNING, not an ending.
We ain't there yet, but the journey matters too.

-F

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Friday, October 25, 2013 11:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
We're more than the sum of our problems. We're what we do in SPITE of them.

Thats's the problem. My whole family- type A in the extreme. It runs in my blood and now I can't do a bloody thing anymore. It's like winning the lottery and never being able to cash the ticket or starving to death in a room full of food. It's not something one just "gets over" Every time I step outside, I see "better than" and while I know how vain that is, I literally can't erase the wiring. I can NEVER EVER live up to my own expectations, forget about anyone else's.

I've learned a lot of new things about what's wrong with me physically in the last year, and it's just made me worse mentally. At least not knowing gave me something to keep looking for -a new piece to add to the puzzle- and now knowing it's all down to one little gene- niggles at me. Every time I look at my kid and see her suffer for my breeding ignorance, it KILLS ME even more than I already hurt. Which is a LOT. Cold weather came and I quite literally feel like I've been hit by a TRUCK. THEN I look at her and she already hurts at ten years old, not to mention her entire face is broken out from the cold allergy this week. I mean WTF???? No one ever said just existing would SUCK so very damn much!!! Where's my damn warning label, I want a damn warning label????!!!!!!

I just don't know how to cope, with any of it....

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 12:11 AM

I don't have kids... So I know this may not help.

Life hurts, yes, life sucks, in myriad ways for everyone, some worse than others. My mom has a very mild form of cold allergy herself where her hands turn two different colours, light on the fingers, red in the middle, and yeah, it hurts her, and she has arthritis which doesn't exactly help. You and your daughter have it worse than her, it sounds like.

You feel guilt because you think you've given your child only your pain. Would you take it back? Would you take back her chance to experience the world, the friendships, to learn and discover, to meet you and know you? Maybe even, I'm assuming, find some of the things you have, maybe have her own children?

You've given more than you know, just by living. Just by your daughter living. You've also given her the best of yourself. Your Type A personality can't see that right now, but everyone else you know, who cares about you, can see this. If you need the reminder to help you cope, if you need to know why, if you forget why it was worth it, you need only look in the reflection of their eyes.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 4:26 AM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

MAO?

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
We're more than the sum of our problems. We're what we do in SPITE of them.

Thats's the problem. My whole family- type A in the extreme. It runs in my blood and now I can't do a bloody thing anymore. It's like winning the lottery and never being able to cash the ticket or starving to death in a room full of food. It's not something one just "gets over" Every time I step outside, I see "better than" and while I know how vain that is, I literally can't erase the wiring. I can NEVER EVER live up to my own expectations, forget about anyone else's.

I've learned a lot of new things about what's wrong with me physically in the last year, and it's just made me worse mentally. At least not knowing gave me something to keep looking for -a new piece to add to the puzzle- and now knowing it's all down to one little gene- niggles at me. Every time I look at my kid and see her suffer for my breeding ignorance, it KILLS ME even more than I already hurt. Which is a LOT. Cold weather came and I quite literally feel like I've been hit by a TRUCK. THEN I look at her and she already hurts at ten years old, not to mention her entire face is broken out from the cold allergy this week. I mean WTF???? No one ever said just existing would SUCK so very damn much!!! Where's my damn warning label, I want a damn warning label????!!!!!!

I just don't know how to cope, with any of it....

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 10:02 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BYTEMITE:
I don't have kids... So I know this may not help.

Life hurts, yes, life sucks, in myriad ways for everyone, some worse than others. My mom has a very mild form of cold allergy herself where her hands turn two different colours, light on the fingers, red in the middle, and yeah, it hurts her, and she has arthritis which doesn't exactly help. You and your daughter have it worse than her, it sounds like.

You feel guilt because you think you've given your child only your pain. Would you take it back? Would you take back her chance to experience the world, the friendships, to learn and discover, to meet you and know you? Maybe even, I'm assuming, find some of the things you have, maybe have her own children?

You've given more than you know, just by living. Just by your daughter living. You've also given her the best of yourself. Your Type A personality can't see that right now, but everyone else you know, who cares about you, can see this. If you need the reminder to help you cope, if you need to know why, if you forget why it was worth it, you need only look in the reflection of their eyes.

Thanks for trying, Byte, really.
Unfortunately, no amount of pretty words is gonna change the crushing reality of the situation. Maybe other people can shake it off and say "oh well, life's not fair" but I CAN'T. A very simple question to two people "hey, what disorders run in the family?" and I wouldn't have cursed a child to a life of CRAP.

I WANT what other people get.
I want to climb a mountain.
I want to run a marathon.
I want the money to see the world.
I want friends that can be around me without pitying me for the hell I live.

I WANT MY GODDAMN CAKE AND I WANNA EAT EVERY FRIGGIN' BITE!

Then I wanna die happy knowing I've done everything I set out to do.
Anything less is mediocre... and that's the one thing type a's can't happily live with.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 10:05 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
MAO?

What the hell does 'ZAT mean???

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 11:50 AM

Quote:
Maybe other people can shake it off and say "oh well, life's not fair" but I CAN'T.

I'm not saying that. I'm saying FIGHT. And I'm saying remember what you're fighting FOR.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 1:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:

Anything less is mediocre... and that's the one thing type a's can't happily live with.

I know some type A's and I really don't think that's your problem. Depression seems to be, if I may be so bold as to guess.
It takes one to know one.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 1:55 PM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

"Civilization is a BEGINNING, not an ending.
We ain't there yet, but the journey matters too."

Beautiful.

And I agree with Chris. Which is not to judge, it just sounds very familiar and when I feel that way I try to remember that my brain chemicals are sometimes in charge.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 3:02 PM

MAL4PREZ

I used to live in a variation of 2, not so much the way Chris worded it with "defending" my way of life, but definitely feeling that people are cruel and awful and will do nothing for me but hurt me. I could go find passages in my old journals that say pretty much that. It was not a fun way to live.

I've come around to something closer to 1. I think it's been a matter of turning my focus away from myself. Sure, there are fairly fundamental things that I will never have and never do, and I could let myself be miserable about it. Occasionally I still fall into that hole. But I've let go of thinking I should have everything. No one does, and certainly there are things I have that other people don't.

I've also let go of thinking that everything the people around me do is somehow a judgement of *me*, or that it's all about some intent towards me. Frankly, most people don't give a damn. They're too buried in their own stuff to realize the affect their actions might have on poor sensitive me. ;) So what I might have once seen as slights is now more about insights into what other people are thinking about and going through.

I guess that's why I get more drawn into the RWED threads that reveal people's inner workings. Most of my life I couldn't see of that because my focus was too much on myself. Now that I can see past my own filter to some extent, I find other people's weird brains pretty interesting. Even our RWA nutjob friends. :)

*---------------------------------------*
The French Revolution would have never happened if Marie Antoinette had just given every peasant an iPhone.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 3:40 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

monoamine oxidase - it's the only single-codon genetic variant I know of that primes people that have it to be impatient and short-tempered.

Quote:
Originally posted by Wishimay:
Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
MAO?

What the hell does 'ZAT mean???

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 3:44 PM

Quote:
I guess that's why I get more drawn into the RWED threads that reveal people's inner workings. Most of my life I couldn't see of that because my focus was too much on myself. Now that I can see past my own filter to some extent, I find other people's weird brains pretty interesting. Even our RWA nutjob friends.

And that is the beauty of it - being able to see the world through the view of others opens more angles, more windows on the world we have, and the more windows you can view it from, the prettier the picture is.

It's never black and white, from the deepest darkness to the brighest purity, this world is a glorious cascade of colors and shades, and from the most heartwarming and uplifting, to the most fearful and terrifying, all of them have a certain poignant beauty.

If only we are willing to see.

-Frem

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 4:00 PM

Very nicely put Frem.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 4:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
monoamine oxidase - it's the only single-codon genetic variant I know of that primes people that have it to be impatient and short-tempered.

Let's not maybe insinuate that she needs to be on meds and offend her.

I get that you're trying to help, but that probably hurt her, judging by her reaction. We're getting someone showing some actual need and vulnerability here and accidentally or not the response around here is apparently to just slap them in the face.

Wonder why I haven't bothered to answer the initial question in this thread myself. Could it be the mockery whenever someone tries to be open and honest about how they feel?

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 4:16 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

"Let's not maybe insinuate that she needs to be on meds and offend her."

I basically didn't understand most of her post. I couldn't tell if her feelings were anger, impatience, hostility, or lack of enjoyment, or perhaps something else. Without understanding, I don't have much helpful or even sympathetic to contribute. Gee, it's too bad you feel - whatever it is you feel ... But as part of her post, there was this: "... and now knowing it's all down to one little gene ..." So I asked b/c I was hoping for clarification. With clarification, I hoped to have something to offer.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 4:30 PM

Because her previous comments about her mother having cancer and it being 99% certain that she has the gene and passed it on to her kids totally says that her only problem is impatience and a short temper.

You were trying to be insulting. And now you're being dismissive - "Gee too bad" - about someone who's life is in crisis and they're upset because their mother has cancer.

It's possible you really were also trying to help - you've admitted before that sometimes you have trouble conveying that sort of thing through the internet and text medium. But if she got offended, and it looks to me like she did, I can kinda see why.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 4:39 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

"You were trying to be insulting." NOW I'll be insulting - and you pretend to be a mind-reader. Go ahead, little twit. ---See the difference?

"And now you're being dismissive - "Gee too bad"" Hello? I was mocking ME and my inability to offer anything relevant.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 8:51 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

WISH What I'm hearing is cancer and Raynaud's. I don't know of any genetic link between these, and even if I did, I doubt I would have anything of value to suggest: I'm not a researcher or a geneticist. Possibly there is research or clinical trials. I could look for that, if you think it would be helpful. Aside from that, I can offer a kindly ear. When our dd kept deteriorating, I went through a grieving process every time. It never got easier. I felt like some toad had taken control of the universe and was punishing her for some horribly malevolant reason. Anyway, FWIW... hugs.

---------------------

As far as "life" is concerned, there WAS a time when humans had to wrest their very existance from nature. But with modern technology, humans no longer interface directly with nature; 99% of our daily activities are mediated by technology and involve the human world, not nature. We don't huddle under a bush when it rains, cower in fear when the lightening strikes, and grub around in the dirt for food. Most of our problems are HUMAN problems: poverty, bad water, epidemics, overpopulation, environmental degradation... all within our potential control. Even earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, and drought can be planned and adjusted for if we so choose. To reiterate what KIKI said, the only reason why WE NOW think that the world is dog-eat-dog is BECAUSE WE MADE IT SO. If we made it, we can unmake it. We control the external world quite well, what we can't seem to control is OURSELVES. Our fault.

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Saturday, October 26, 2013 10:28 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by 1kiki:
"You were trying to be insulting." NOW I'll be insulting - and you pretend to be a mind-reader. Go ahead, little twit. ---See the difference?

"And now you're being dismissive - "Gee too bad"" Hello? I was mocking ME and my inability to offer anything relevant.

I don't have to be a mindreader to know what you were doing. It's the same stuff you all pull on me whenever I'm having problems.

It pisses me off when you do it to me, but when you all do it to other people? Why do you think I don't talk to DT anymore? Because he nearly drove one of my friends to suicide. That kind of behaviour is a deal breaker for me. You can't be reckless about this stuff, it's SERIOUS.

Oh I'm sorry that some of us get the sads and talk about our problems, I'm sorry it's so annoying to you mature and calm people, I'm sorry that some of us are so deep in the hole it's hard to even see which way is up. But pushing us down even deeper with insults? No. Accidental or not, that is not acceptable.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 12:50 AM

How many times I gotta say I don't really get insulted? Not by words on the internets anyways...

And Sig's right about one thing, I think I could adjust if there wasn't a constant deterioration. But there is. We went out this evening and I didn't even make it half-mile worth of walking before things started to not work. At this rate I will be in a wheelchair by 40. Three years ago I could at least do two miles...

And it's anxiety disorders that run my family...I've an uncle who would lay down at night as a child and vomit up the stress of the day, every day. He still has the absolute WORST case of anxiety I've ever seen, and he's 70.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 12:56 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
It's the same stuff you all pull on me whenever I'm having problems.

What stuff is that?

Quote:
It pisses me off when you do it to me, but when you all do it to other people?

It?

Quote:
Why do you think I don't talk to DT anymore?

Because DT doesn't come here anymore?

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 1:23 AM

Quote:

What stuff is that?

-_-

Quote:
Because DT doesn't come here anymore?

Err... right, I guess you wouldn't know about that. Or... probably care? I'm actually okay with that. Less caring is exactly what that situation calls for.

Hmm, Wish seems to be responding better to you. Which is not to be unexpected since I'm not really good with people either. I'll see where this goes.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 4:05 AM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
An admittedly black & white choice here...

1. Life is a rich tapestry of creation and exploration and discovery in which we strive to encourage the best in Human nature and progress to a better tomorrow for us and our posterity.

2. Life is a struggle to protect what we hold dear from those who would seek to destroy or subvert our way of life and peaceful existence.

1 or 2?

Neither really, as far as I can see.

How's this....life is a lottery. Some hit the jackpot. Born with good genes, good health, into a wealthy nation and nothing and the biggest tragedy is their own death at a grand old age surrounded by loved ones.

Some of us have some wins on the way. We may not get the big win, but there is enough along the way.

Others miss out all together. Born into poverty, war, chronic disability. Maybe they still experience joy. But life is a short brutal struggle to survive

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 4:14 AM

OONJERAH

That's too realistic, Magons.

My notion is the Chris chose the rare extremes out of curiousity.
The thread would derail pretty quick, but where would it go?
Who would it attract?

====================================== :>

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 9:43 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

I agree, Chris; Frem distilled it beautifully.

On the other side, I know about the "deterioration" and the mentality it brings. My back is now painful 24/7, and I can walk or do ANYTHING less and less. It has changed me; I don't take care of the hanging planters (of which I have over 50) I used to spend hours on, and I'm trying to re-home my rabbit, snake and fish, something I've never even considered before. I can't stand up long enough to clean their cages properly. I just can't take care of things anymore, and try not to think about how much longer I'll even be able to sulky, which is my one remaining "activity", period. Everything has just kind of ground to a halt and I don't care.

At least I'm 65--which doesn't help anything, but at 40 I can't imagine how it would have affected me. It's horrifying to think of what Wish goes through.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 1:22 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

WISH .. I used to frequent the neurowebforums at Mass General and learned a lot. I doubt that what you're facing is anything simple, but sometimes you can find useful info online. Anyway, you might want to check out BrainTalk http://www.braintalkcommunities.org/forum.php. It was the brainchild (so to speak) of John Lester when he was at Mass General, and even tho he left the hospital he carried on with the fora. I've found it a marvelous resource; it was there where I found my daughter's (very rare) diagnosis and also one of the treatments that helped her... we moms would get our respective children's doctors to talk to each other across the country (N Carolina, Mass, Calif) and keep them updated on what worked and what didn't. I hope this helps.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 4:28 PM

MAGONSDAUGHTER

I have two friends who suffer from Fybromyalgia, and it sounds very similiar.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 5:51 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

"Some hit the jackpot. Born ... into a wealthy nation ...

Others miss out all together. Born into poverty, war ... Maybe they still experience joy. But life is a short brutal struggle to survive."

All human-caused.

FWIW, I live in constant and often excruciating pain. There doesn't seem to be much that can be done about the pain. But if our society (the US) was just a little less brutal with its 'work or die' ethic (except for the very wealthy who will never have to work at all), and a little more accomodating and supportive of its members, maybe I wouldn't have to keep working more than full time. Maybe I could slow down and do things at an easier pace. Maybe I could count on medical care when I'm retired and completely debilitated.

Certain things can't be helped - disability, pain, death. But our ecocomic and political systems brutalize the vast majority of humanity every day. That's our fault for taking advantage of it when it benefits us even a little (like buying cheap goods from FOXXCON or sweatshops or child labor), for allowing it to be done to others, and for not fighting it when it's done to us.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 7:26 PM

Quote:
Certain things can't be helped - disability, pain, death. But our ecocomic and political systems brutalize the vast majority of humanity every day.

That's true.

I'm sorry about your own pain, and also if I belittled your troubles in any way. That wasn't my intention.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 8:01 PM

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

No worries. And I truly appreciate you posting that.

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 8:16 PM

I'm in physical pain every day as well. I have crazy back problems, but to give in to the pain- to sit or stand or move in a way the lessens the pain would limit me and what I like to do, so damn the physical pain. Everything hurts, so I'll do gung fu or whatever; it's hurt since I was a kid anyway. Physical pain is easier to deal with than spiritual pain or depression.
OWW, FUCK! Then I go on...

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Sunday, October 27, 2013 11:43 PM