One of my favourites:
"As a senior citizen was driving down the freeway, his car phone rang. Answering, he heard his wife's voice urgently warning him, "Herman, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on 280. Please be careful!"
"Hell," said Herman, "It's not just one car. It's hundreds of them!"
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great joke, Gyuri
It's the most important to keep laughing... how crappy life may get.
EDIT: love your avatar.. Resembles the Dutch lion....
I believe another factor is the population density.
IIRC, according to NAMI approximatelly 17% of people suffer from mental illness.
NAMI - National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
great joke, Gyuri
It's the most important to keep laughing... how crappy life may get.
EDIT: love your avatar.. Resembles the Dutch lion....
Yes I'm trying.
But sometimes it is like a hanged man's smile.
It is not always honest.
It's actually a french lion, was my first car's badge.
It was a good old Peugeot 504, we loved that.
If you knew my life's story...
I know life' has it's crazy moments. Sometimes reliving the past is hell too..An uncle of mine owned a dark red one... beautiful car... <3
In my younger years I battled depression. Perhaps not "clinical" depression, but certainly bad enough to contemplate suicide. I never attempted it, though. My sister tried a few times, but fortunately failed.
The cause of my depression was very evident to me; I have always been hyper-sensitive about the evils in this world. It was not self-loathing, but rather a "get me off this planet" type of feeling.
To this day the world has not changed much. If anything, it continues to get worse. More evil, more greed, more suffering.
What turned things around for me was knowledge; as I studied Philosophy and many Religions, I gained the skills to take an ultra-objective step back - to see the "big picture". It is this single skill which has made the difference for me. Ultimately, it culminated in a spiritual experience which completely changed my life at age 20. I no longer question the meaning of life and I no longer question whether or not I am worthy of this life, or whether I am strong enough to fight for what I know is right. The evils in this world no longer intimidate me. I never feel loneliness, but rather treasure being alone. The realization that "me" is not that voice in my head that does all the "thinking", but rather the being which observes the "thinking", caused a dramatic shift. Coupled with the knowledge of my primordial identification with the Universe - well, there was just no going back to the old mental processes which sickened me so...
For those looking for guidance, perhaps you would find the writings of Ekhart Tolle both accessible and profound. I could recommend others, but Mr. Tolle has a particularly great way of bringing about understanding of these concepts without spending years studying and meditating.
The cause of my depression was very evident to me; I have always been hyper-sensitive about the evils in this world. It was not self-loathing, but rather a "get me off this planet" type of feeling.
To this day the world has not changed much. If anything, it continues to get worse. More evil, more greed, more suffering.
What turned things around for me was knowledge; as I studied Philosophy and many Religions, I gained the skills to take an ultra-objective step back - to see the "big picture". It is this single skill which has made the difference for me. Ultimately, it culminated in a spiritual experience which completely changed my life at age 20. I no longer question the meaning of life and I no longer question whether or not I am worthy of this life, or whether I am strong enough to fight for what I know is right. The evils in this world no longer intimidate me. I never feel loneliness, but rather treasure being alone. The realization that "me" is not that voice in my head that does all the "thinking", but rather the being which observes the "thinking", caused a dramatic shift. Coupled with the knowledge of my primordial identification with the Universe - well, there was just no going back to the old mental processes which sickened me so...
For those looking for guidance, perhaps you would find the writings of Ekhart Tolle both accessible and profound. I could recommend others, but Mr. Tolle has a particularly great way of bringing about understanding of these concepts without spending years studying and meditating.
Well said!
The remedy for all problems is love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
"Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or
rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does
not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends"
Every situation is its own, and is complex because we as humans are complex - my thought was purely conjecture.
We live in disturbing times, something is rotten in the state of Denmark - and we all seem to have issues, in some area or other. Just the level of conversation in this thread points out the sense of unease that's about - do we know how to "fix it", in the bigger sense ...?
fas42,
i think we should not skip steps...
first of all we need to know what is ''the problem''...
everyone has a different opinion of it's nature.
next, we see id the problem is a problem in itself...
maybe even the problem is ''us''.
if you ride your bicycle and you a re not going as fast as you should, you dont just fix it. You stop, take a look, test the parts,etc. When you found the problem, the you work to find a solution...
i think we should not skip steps...
first of all we need to know what is ''the problem''...
everyone has a different opinion of it's nature.
next, we see id the problem is a problem in itself...
maybe even the problem is ''us''.
if you ride your bicycle and you a re not going as fast as you should, you dont just fix it. You stop, take a look, test the parts,etc. When you found the problem, the you work to find a solution...
One way I would define "the problem" is that we as a species are more aware of ourselves as a collective entity than ever before - we can shine a very sophisticated, probing light into every corner of what we are, what we do - view ourselves from every angle.
And in getting to this point we have lost a sense of the "why" - the feeling of true purpose to our lives. In much earlier times it was purely survival, then it was to please God, make sure he was happy with us ... but now ...??
And in getting to this point we have lost a sense of the "why" - the feeling of true purpose to our lives. In much earlier times it was purely survival, then it was to please God, make sure he was happy with us ... but now ...??
For what I've noticed is that we've lost some human perspective, don't know the english word for "Menselijke maat" (dutch), in our approach of society and our fellow man. Also the awareness that we all form a society and depend on each other is required imho.
And please accept that people make mistakes (a lot of them)...
fas42,
you ask for the goal for living...it's up to every individual. I,m afraid there is no answer to that question. well..as of now at least. we may discover we were made for a purpose by something eventually...but for now...a big question mark.
survival and religion are not goals as far as i m concerned.
''survival'' is a state where every effort is directed toward surviving, tending to our primary needs. maybe the term as other significations as well...dunno.
''religion'' is a man-made sytem of beliefs and doctrines that has for purpose to control or set a basis for controling a given population...as far as i know.
to me, to please god means to play ''within the rules''
you ask for the goal for living...it's up to every individual. I,m afraid there is no answer to that question. well..as of now at least. we may discover we were made for a purpose by something eventually...but for now...a big question mark.
survival and religion are not goals as far as i m concerned.
''survival'' is a state where every effort is directed toward surviving, tending to our primary needs. maybe the term as other significations as well...dunno.
''religion'' is a man-made sytem of beliefs and doctrines that has for purpose to control or set a basis for controling a given population...as far as i know.
to me, to please god means to play ''within the rules''
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For someone with depression, the diagnosis of an incurable disease can be the straw that breaks the camels back. So focused on the disease, they cannot imagine living happily with it.....
guys this is an important topic. Please keep within the forum rules, and stay away from politics and religion (even though that at times may be relevant to the discussion).
However, what people really need is faith and the faith is a lifesaver.
If I had not trusted my parents the food they gave me to eat was healthy,
I would not have survived. That is faith.
Faith is a universal medicine. Placebo works.
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