Agrippina

That's really good, maybe the pepsi is empty, your head certainly isn't. I always like to tell young people to 'find your passion'. I think that if you follow something you feel very passionate about and especially in choosing a career, you will be a very happy person. A wise man once said, 'find something you love to do, and you will never have to work a day in your life." Its the same thing, finding your passion and making that passion your life's work. It's always sad to see people following dull dreary careers when they have a passion burning inside them yet they can't follow it through finance or the judgments of others.

Good answer.

Agrippina

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Yes, you can have a very old and wise head on very young shoulders and a wise silly empty young head on very old shoulders. I always believe in treating everybody as if they have something important to say. This is particularly true of children. People tend to dismiss children as being unimportant and yet they can say the most profound things.

The here and now is the only guarantee that we have. Yesterday is gone - there is no need to dwell on it except to learn from its mistakes and to take joy in a job well done. And tomorrow, who knows what's gong to happen tomorrow, so make this moment in time count. No we don't have to make a mark on the world, but if you are then make sure its a positive mark. I want people to remember my jokes and quirks at my funeral - the one with the viking ship - I don't want people to weep for a life wasted I want them to take joy from a life lived well.

Thanks your reply is very interesting.

FRYandBENDER

The four noble truths of Bhuddism.

1) The Nature of Dukkha: Suffering exists in life.

2) The Origin of Dukkha (Samudaya): Suffering is caused by craving.

3) The Cessation of Dukkha (Nirodha): To eliminate suffering, eliminate craving.

4) The Way Leading to the Cessation of Dukkha (Magga): To eliminate craving follow the Eightfold Path.

The noble eightfold path.

* Wisdom (Sanskrit: prajñā, Pāli: paññā)

1. Right view
2. Right intention

* Ethical conduct (Sanskrit: śīla, Pāli: sīla)

3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood

* Mental discipline (Sanskrit and Pāli: samādhi)

6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration

I always thought that Buddhism has a neat philosophy.

__________________
Neither am I the means to any end others may wish to accomplish. I am not a tool for their use. I am not a servant of their needs. I am not a bandage for their wounds. I am not a sacrifice on their altars. ... I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them. I ask no one to live for me, nor do I live for others. I covet no mans soul, nor is my soul theirs to covet.

Ayn Rand, Anthem.

Common insult examples and how to avoid them

Agrippina

Yes hubris will always bring you down, but if you can afford all the finest furniture etc, and retain your good character, why shouldn't you have it. This was the question that Croesus asked of Solon, that he regarded himself as the happiest man alive because of his health and that Solon should respect him as the luckiest man alive. Solon's reply was that "sum total of a man's life achievements can only be determined at the end of that life so until your life is over, I cannot judge whether you were the happiest man alive".

Agrippina

Very true there is a lot to be said for the serenity of Buddhism.
The problem for me has always been volatility - I am too volatile, impatient and passionate to be serene, so Buddhism doesn't work for me.

joep182

I do think God's existence can be proven - through the concept of cause and effect. As i say the difficult part is to know who God is, and that of course is the crucial part in determining why we are here. We have to understand the motive of the cause to determine the desired effect.

Agrippina

Of course its logical if you do something there is going to be a result. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. So if you do something - it will have a result. So for every effect there is a cause.
Whether God exists I have a problem with that one but I don't want to enter into another religious debate. But I don't think that God is the reason I am here, I was born, I am going to die, in between I'm going to take a bite out of everything on the table at my particular feast. In other words I will take every opportunity that presents itself and I won't feel guilty about enjoying whatever that opportunity is, but as much as I take, I will make sure that, if it is at all possible, I will put opportunities in the way of everyone that I meet i.e. I will share my feast if someone asks me to.

Atticus

How very true.

I had all sorts of life plans - places I wanted to visit, courses I wanted to do, a change of job, becoming good enough at yoga to teach - then I got cancer and my plans became mere dreams.

I'm only a few months out of treatment and there's a reasonable chance the cancer won't come back but the uncertainty makes it hard to formulate long-term plans.

At the moment my only ambition is to live long enough to see my two-year-old daughter grow up. If I can't have that then I want to make it to the age where she will remember me which I believe is around the ages of 6 or 7. For now the little energy I have is put into trying to 'build' a happy, balanced little girl. That's the only legacy I really care about leaving.

Agrippina

[quote=Atticus;96440]How very true.

You have been very brave in dealing with your cancer. I've known other people completely fall apart and take to drugs and other substances to cope, yet you've got yourseff back to work and do a good job with your daughter.


That is hard to do but even though you don't think you do the fact that you are looking to seeing your daughter grow is a long term plan, it shows a positive outlook, which is good. And wanting to give her that good start so she will remember you is thinking forward. Just keep taking care of yourself and rely on others for help to make recovery a bit easier.
My neighbor has lymphatic cancer, she goes into remission for a couple of months, then it comes back. She says now that she's not going to worry about it anymore just deal with each day as it comes. It is so good to see though that she's not taken to her bed to wait for death but is still very active, some days more than others but she knows her time is limited, yet she keeps going.
I wrote something last night about my sister, I think it's earlier on in this thread but her attitude towards her cancer was a huge inspiration. She too said that at the end she began to realize what I meant by enjoying the feast and that was why she went to Paris. When she was in hospice at the end, she was still reading non-fiction saying she wanted to still learn new information even if it was of no use to her.

emptypepsi

Agreed. I am seeing this amongst my peers in my age group these days. I am afraid that many of my friends and acquaintances are following routes that are not going to lead them to true happiness (though I don't really know for sure - it could). I will ask "What are you pursuing?" and they'll tell me of this high paying position they are chasing, not really focusing on what it IS that they'll be doing for a living. I will ask "What are you doing for school?" and they'll reply "Well, I think it'd be pretty smart to major in (this) or (that)". I then usually follow it up with "Yes, but what do you WANT to do? What do YOU get satisfaction from?" That, indeed, is a harder question to explore, and understandably so. It is much easier to find the high paying job than to explore yourself. I try to get my peers to do more of the latter. I'd rather see their passions fanned and spread rather than wither out inside of them.

__________________
"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom."
Isaac Asimov

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