opus123

I have met people who look like sheep and act a little too normal if you ask me.

Not sure if depression is in your family however.....

You might try volunteering with the Boys and Girls Club or volunteering with the elderly or elderly handicapped. One day with either of those groups will make you so friggin happy to be normal. I met an old guy last year who could not remember most words and what they meant. He could not remember his family either. Rejoice in life for we don't know how long we have. Another book to read is Volunteer Vacations. Make your time away from work seem more meaningful and effective to improving the world. That said, it is not hard to shake up the status quo once in awhile. Take the holidays for example.... you might try and give very unusual gifts this year. Give all your family some unknown music that they never heard of. Shake things up. Back in September I wanted to have a unique birthday party. So I gathered my friends and we went to the bowling alley and I brought out pirate hats and eye patches and they had to bowl a game with the eye patches ! It was really hilarious and people talked about it for a long time. Anyway, time to get to sleep....

good luck,

Jonathan

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"We are sure to be losers when we quarrel with
ourselves. It is a civil war, and in all such
contentions, triumphs are defeats." Mr Colton
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Ourcrazymodern?

If it was a safer world, travelling it would benefit humanity.
Otherwise I agree wholeheartedly!

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BE JUST AND FEAR NOT

Redjake

There is no fate but what we make it.






Ok, I just wanted to quote Terminator 2.


I like this thread, but everything I want to say has already been said much better by others in here. So........I agree with a lot of you.

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Willravel

You're only a sheep until you realize you're a sheep. I challenged the shit out of all my high school teachers because I wasn't interested in learning meaningless tripe that really only served to put me in a box. I live outside the box. The only time I'm really in the box is with my boss, and I turn around and am a freedom loving, party animal (yet responsible) boss to my workers. Live as an example to others how good life can be.

Jimellow

I will occasionally get the feeling that I am "floating" through life, and this observation is only brought on by my occasional clear awareness that "this is all real."

When this happens, I'll often look at my hand, then around my environment, and be like "Shit, this is all real." It's a fantastic feeling, and can definitely be experienced willfully. After writing that, I am doing it right now.

It's so easy to fall into the routine and normalcy of life; it's almost like one isn't living, but instead floating.

Concentrating and clearing the mind is also a great way of achieving a better grasp of the notion that things are real, and help stop one from "floating."

Parts of this post may not make sense. In my head, and life, I have experienced moments of extreme clarity where I will have an experience similar to an epiphany, with the result being crystal clear awarness. In a sense, it's a reality check, but on a much more serious level.

In general, I think people have too much going on in their lives. Too many thoughts, too much stress, too many ideas bouncing around in their heads. The end result is a looser grip on reality, in the sense that they lose focus on their core selves, and the reality that they are a part of every single day.

One could argue that the stress, numerous thoughts, and general distance from the base reality is in itself reality, but in my experiences, the moments of clarity one experiences when they just clear their mind and concentrate is amazing. It truly feels real. Simple, but very, very real.

There is a good kind of "floating" that can be experienced though. Play some classical music and let it envelop you. I'd recommend Mozart or Haydn. You'll float right away, and results may vary, but I find the experience fantastic.

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Desperation is no excuse for lowering one's standards.

Cynthetiq

Interesting I posted this a long time ago, and here we are a little over 3 years later.


I still don't have a PS2, the PS3 is out now, and I'm not interested in spending the $$$ on it.

I don't brown bag it all that often, but I am mindful of what we do for eating out.

Travelling, wow, I've been to India, Philippines, Madrid, Finland, Iceland, Austria, Gran Canaria, Bahamas. I'm amazed at the ability to do these things with a little planning and saving money.

I'm starting a new business with my wife, we're having a blast playing with it. I say play because it's just that, something we're playing with because it's extra money we have now from continually saving money. We can take the risk, if it pays off and one of us gets to quit their jobs, great. If not, it was a fun endeavor.

My life has changed so much, but at the same time it's not changed at all.

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Supple Cow

What I have to say has already been said. I have only this to add:

The people who are saying that we are sheep (or that there are sheep at all) display what are, to me, blantant symptoms of being in a state I was once in. I thought I was depressed... and I made myself so, but only because I didn't fully understand what it meant to take responsibility for myself - to take control - and how essential that is to living a fulfilling life. Depression and a lack of ownership over one's own life; whichever the cause, the other seems always to be the effect. To ask why we are living a certain life instead of to strive to live the life we desire is to give over control... to give it. It isn't taken from us so easily. (Unless of course we are talking about the mass media mind control thread. That is a whole other can of worms to consider, and I think it is very related to this thread.)

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"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
(Michael Jordan)

Nimetic

Here's another take on it though...

If you reach 40, have no debt, no kids and no house (of your own) - you may start to have some regrets. Particularly if there few friends of your own age with similar aspirations. You might also wonder about your security in old-age.

The sheep analogy is a good one and useful to keep in mind, as some people seem to sell their soul for marginly more interesting houses/offices, but don't forget that there's some value in these aspirations also.

Manorfire

In the developed world, we largely lack the adversity that would rule over our lives. Instead, most of us have choice and opportunity, and the pressures and anxieties that come along with it. Feeling like you control your life does not automatically give you a direction to take. Then, we compare our lives to those less privileged and wonder why we are not more grateful.

People need raw emotions to feel truly alive, or they take up bungi jumping. Grief over the loss of something is akin to the emotions felt when falling in love. We don't need to do either, very often, anymore. Adversity, much like love, can heighten the world and spirituality around you. Too much of a good life is confusing and uninspiring - "Is this it?" - people ask themselves. There is too much time to stop, think and type about it on the internet. Much of this apathy is due to technological advancements removing our traditional tasks in life. There's less small things to reward yourself over. Less things to take pride in doing.

I'll be dead in a few years unless I get a kidney transplant and I've been stuck in a wheelchair all of my life. My time on Earth hardly feels like it is 'playing out' in front of me. However, I still waste my days and achieve very little, when I am capable of doing more. There is no sense of urgency or feeling like a hearded sheep here. I don't care about my debt problems or retirement. Life's biggest ambition is holding on to custody of my daughter and dealing with the guilt of knowing that the couple who adopted my son would give her a better life.

Having a natural adversity has actually not done me much harm. I can be quite arrogant about it actually, while soaking up the pity and excuses, when I feel like it. Disabled people are invisible to society's expectations and 'normal requirements' anyway. You rarely feel lost in your own community or just another number. Your individuality is upheld, while your independence is promoted by just about every fucker you know!

Ourcrazymodern?

I Love this! At first I made it into a dirty joke in my mind, but something clicked, and while it may have been (somewhere in the neck) I think cream rises, because it does!

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