Life lessons

[Drake]

Well GibbMeister I suppose you might know the saying better than I sence I just heard it once when I was very little.

[Ladyzekke]

Go for it Yorick! Let's keep this thread going as there are still a lot of people who haven't logged on yet. I KNOW Armisael has GOT to have something to say on this one!

[Rikard T'Aranaxz]

Yeah something like "drink as much as you can your girlfriend might be waiting"

[Yorick]

Alright Zekke,
This was written after I read a couple of posts in the aforementioned thread, so it is circumstancially driven, but it is a perspective I maintain.


__________________________________________________ _______________________________________

There was a film I saw once, might have been a comedy or something, and this black guy was talking to someone depressed about what a strange thing it was that some humans loose the will to continue existing. He said (in jive accent):
"You never see an eagle flapping along in air suddenly say to himself "Man, it's such a drag being an eagle, I've had enough" and just stop flapping so he fall downs till he hits the earth.....you never see that."

To me finding the joy in the struggle rather than just the success is important. How many of us would play Baldurs Gate without A CHALLENGE? How many would go see a movie where no one has any problems concerns or challenges? It seems the negatives in this life give the positives their value, their worth. Food tastes better when we are hungry, sleep's precious when we're tired, life is precious because it ends, peace and serenity are so desirable because there is so much conflict - both internal and external.

The struggle defines us, gives us depth and strength of character and lets us connect with each other on a deeper, stronger level. Which to me is close to what it's all about. Connection with each other is so vital, so intrinsic to our most basic need and the source of so much joy, and yet so much sorrow when it is destroyed or denied.

I look at myself holding a glass of water and contemplate the billions of signals being sent to move my hand. I reflect on the sensations of tasting the liquid as I drink it and reflect further on my self awareness and remind myself that it is all a miracle, and all a bonus. I was born in this world without even the ability to feed myself, and did nothing to 'deserve' or 'earn' the gift this life is.

My hopes, plans and dreams my go unrealised, but relative to the many everyday miraculous wonders I can experience - and yet mostly ignore because of their abundance - these setbacks are so small, so few.

It is CHOOSING to view this perspective, and choosing to thank the creator for it all - constantly - that has kept me putting one foot in front of the other during my blackest times.

You had it right, Drake. My computer science professor was a dick. By the end of the semester I wanted to kick his smug ass..

Yorrick, leave my Gibb out of this...;-&lt>

[Bahamut]

My sig speaks for itself... and 'things come when you least expect it...' or something like that.

[Drake]

Hey Bahamut, "There is no Right or Wrong, people only fight for what they believe in" is that not from final fantasy??
If you like final fantasy there are some cool pics of final fantasy 8 here:
http://members.tripod.com/~aodff8/frame.html
It is not much but I don't know of any others.

[Zoratorak]

hmmm... i wanna agree on you and disagree with you on some parts Yorick...

first i agree that there will always be good and evil in this world because without evil we will not be reconizing good and we cannot struggle to find good because there is no evil ... only good...

second... the thing i do not agree in is that people ALSO find happiness in success... they are happy and proud that they were able to succeed in something in life... people are happy in what they want... the way your saying that happiness is more important then success then you are saying what YOU want to say it ...gets??

thats all

[Bahamut]

Um... not really. They are from Samurai X the movie. You could say FF8 too though.. I remember hearing that or something... thanx for the link!

[Yorick]

Zor, I didn't say success didn't bring happiness. Fulfilment of ones desire is the source of much satisfaction. I was talking about changing perception and finding joy in other things rather than JUST/ONLY the success. Only enjoying sport if your team wins is a sure fire way to increase bitterness. Of course you'll be happy if it wins, but by taking the harder route and choosing to find enjoyment in the game itself rather than ONLY the victory, should let you be happy more frequently.

Sayings like "Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted" are along these lines. You often learn more from a negative or painful experience than a happy positive one - an unfortunate reality. The saying "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" holds similar truth to this.

In creating music you need to create some bad ideas to find good ones. Like panning for gold. This works in picking the right note to end a line, the right harmony to the line, the lyric that supplements the emotion, or even picking between finished songs to play or record. Some clangers are created before the gems appear.

It's easy to look at the glass of water and say "It's half empty". It's harder to say "It's half full", and harder again to say "What a miracle this water is!"