If a person, like me, wants to be more optimistic, what are some good thoughts/things that I could focus on? Specific things that you are thankful for in your lives. Specific things that make you optimistic. Hopeful. About life and living. :)

Think about how U will teach your children to be rich and saints at the same time.

Think about how U can bring about changes in systems of society that broke U.

That is a tough question Cotton. We are all unique in that regard. For myself, I woke up one morning after 14 straight days in the darkness and made a decision to clean up my act and let the current take me wherever it chooses. No more fighting upstream. I just roll with the punches nowadays cause they still keep coming. Since I made that decision I find that I am gratefull just for the fact that I am alive. So, every day when I wake up, I check my pulse. If I find I am still alive, that kinda puts me in postive frame of mind. :)

LOL. Alright. So, children, a pulse and changing a society, so far. Keep 'em coming.

a sense of humour is vitally important in my opinion/begin jokin wid yurself......i am serious
allow ANY hint of giggly joviality....qbusrdity, sureality to surface and go with it

many popl, espcially adults, dont do this. one big reason is not wanting to apper weird to themselves due to cultural taboos---you know 'mental illnss myth crap'

but yeah, do it. start seeing funny side of tings. also when feelin down dont fight it as such but allowgroans and expression of what you feel rock to and fro, cry....realy it is connecting wit real energies which IS you

If a person, like me, wants to be more optimistic, what are some good thoughts/things that I could focus on? Specific things that you are thankful for in your lives. Specific things that make you optimistic. Hopeful. About life and living. :)

I don't think "optimism" is good, in fact, I find it tyrannic. Pushing yourself to be "optimistic" can take a great toll on your health.


Here's a few things you can do:

Pay attention to what you expose yourself to. What tv shows you watch, what you read. If it is such that it keeps you angry for a long time, then make an effort to stay away from that. Don't watch those tv shows, don't read those papers etc.

Do something for yourself, every day. (I've mentioned this before.)

Get active. Go to a library, search the internet, ask questions, ponder the answers. See from there.

Think of the very worst physical danger you have ever been in: you aren't in that danger now. That is good.
Think of the worst ever illness you have had: you don't have it now. [Or, if you do, it hasn't killed me yet.]
Think of the biggest asshole you ever worked for: you aren't working for him now. [If you are, quit.]
Set your standards. Your rules. They determine whether you 'win' or not. Not society, or family, or friends.

Do something unecessary, but appreciated, for someone else everyday. It may be as simple as holding open a door, or a cheery good morning.

Watch Red Dwarf at least once a week.

Deleted

this answer cant come from an outside source, you have to find it yourself.

but what you can do is just look for the beauty in life, out of all situations try to see the good side of it,

peace.

Think of the very worst physical danger you have ever been in: you aren't in that danger now. That is good.
Think of the worst ever illness you have had: you don't have it now. [Or, if you do, it hasn't killed me yet.]
Think of the biggest asshole you ever worked for: you aren't working for him now. [If you are, quit.]....

Some times thoes thought never stop and that takes life out of U.

Stop them.

'To be optimistic'

That is really fucking difficult. I'm a born pessimist. I used to be angry at the world and pessimistic beyond pessimism. Nothing wrong with that except that there isn't much enjoyment in it.

I changed a lot when I changed scenery. This is probably in line with what Water said. She suggested to conciously look at your environment and what is bothering you. I didn't know what was actually making me so pessimistic and a radical change in my life changed almost everything and I slowly changed. My glass is often half full nowadays. I still have my sarcasm, but I am not automatically pessimistic any more. I became aware of how my environment shaped my reactions and realized that I actually have control over my mood. Furthermore I realized that it is ok to be not happy all the time. If something awful happens it is ok to feel miserable about it. We are just human.

You are allowed to say to yourself: FUCK THE PEOPLE WHO DEMAND THAT I AM AN OPTIMIST!

You are who you are Cotton. I have a feeling your current environment is dragging you down. I sometimes go to these socializing events here at the University. I scare most americans with my attitude and dark humour. I do not fit in. I know it isn't my fault. I fit in perfectly in any party in Europe. But if I didn't know that I would start thinking that there is something wrong with me. It is merely so that currently I am in the wrong environment. I don't even try to fit in. I just hit them with the darkest humour shit when they are still conversing about how 'awesome some pants' are. It is just a test. If they respond well I know I can have a decent conversation. If they look at me like I am a serial killer it is time to move on. Or tease them a bit more.

In summary, don't be an optimist. Try to find an environment that fits with you, so you can feel ok about yourself.

Not easy though. But I don't think that there is something wrong with you.

yeah dn yu look hot too. bet thats cheered yu up...heh

what you say makes good sense. that you can be in a place in the world where yu jest dont click. even could be born there and it just dont feel right type of thing

howefer. tings IS so bad now what wit te fukin up of free roaming potential--the countryside hre for example and destruction of wilderness, and exploitation of peoples and animlams etc. that yo cant get tooo non-pessimistic. "no ones free till the last person's free" (Monica Sjoo)

I've been thinking overnight, and like many of you have said, "trying" to be optimistic sounds more and more like a bit of bullshit. The way I phrased the original post (op), it sounds kind of childish and naive. I guess what I am getting at is attitude. So many people say that attitude is everything, and I've generally got a bad attitude, so I'm trying to see if I can change that.


Watch Red Dwarf at least once a week.I used to watch, but it's not on here in west Texas anymore. Great show though. I miss it. Chef too.


Pushing yourself to be "optimistic" can take a great toll on your health.Yes. And it feels fake as hell. I'm trying on the other things though.

It is what you do that mattersThanks. So true.

this answer cant come from an outside source, you have to find it yourself.You're right.

but what you can do is just look for the beauty in life, out of all situations try to see the good side of it, peaceThanks, dude. This is what I'd like to start doing more of. Changing the way I think about things. I think that not everything is as bad as I always make it out to be, and I want to start making myself see that, focus on the good instead of the bad.

Some times those thoughts never stop and that takes life out of UThis is how I've been for a long time. They do take the life out of me. I know that. However, I used to be able to control my thoughts. A long, long time ago. I want to see if I can do that again. Not in the same way though.

I used to be angry at the world and pessimistic beyond pessimism. Nothing wrong with that except that there isn't much enjoyment in it.I've felt this way for a lot of years spurious. I tend to take things to extremes though, in everything I do. I'm sick of the extreme lack of enjoyment, and I think that a lot of my problems can be solved with a change in outlook, a new good habit. As to the rest of what you said, I think I can agree with all of it. I can relate to you at least. I tend to be darkest around my family, though. They are all still Southern Baptist, and they just can't handle the fact that I say that I am an atheist. (Agnostic now, though). So, I tend to play up the part of dark visitor to their bright, sunshiny exuberance when I am around them, which I think is kind of unfair. They are set in their ways though. This is a problem for me.

yeah dn yu look hot too. bet thats cheered yu up...hehHee hee. I don't hear that often. Yes, that cheered me up. Thanks duendy. :cool:

Southern Baptist hey? you know. i am not religious in the Christian sense, but i LOOOVE black gospel music, and some white curches there rock too.

remmember as a young kid seeing tese black gospel docus where we'd see black people totally gooone in te riddims of the gospel. sme going into trance. i was So intrigued. it is a form ofletting go ecstatically. its very primal. only ting is the dogma that comes wid it!...when the music stops, and also te sentiments ofmusic. which is like a longin to LEAVE EArth, Nature. rather than celebrating it----tho WO yu can imagine the need for that dream when it is was/is so tough for many black pople, AND white people etc

so, i can enjoy te music witout becomeing involved with the dogma. i just get into te FEELING...Black Bpys of Alabama, amazing, Aertha 'Amazing Grace'--nearly worn out that double album, and on and on

again, The Black Boys of Alabama, and
Aretha, 'Amazing Grace'--dont want to diss
them by typoing thier names

I kill things. I am happy. So, I guess good thoughts would be the destruction of your enemies. Imagination is cool. The best advice that I can give is: Happiness comes from fulfilling desires. Usually happiness doesnt allow for awareness. I love to have sex. When I didnt have a steady flow, i wasnt happy. Now that I do, I dont really think about it, but I dont desire much else.

I dont know what else... hit a bong or do some psychedlics. Those are usually great thoughts.

This is a real simple one.

Okay, why bother living if living sucks, right?

So either shut the fuck about about how sucky it is and die, or figure out why it isn't as sucky as you might have thought.

(this is the logic I used to start on the path of getting over myself long ago)

So I thought...

Well breathing is good.

It's better than not.

Oh oh oh! And the feeling of standing outside with the air on the face and such and seeing a beautiful sunset. That's a cool deal there. I see it as magical sort of, that I can experience at all.

So celebrate that you're here, and that you can have experiences... period. That's a good starting place.

But then again, I'm a stinking hedonist.

Seriously, to me, it's amazing that I can feel, think, etc. All that. Every little thing sort of blows my mind in that it is possible to begin with.. that a creature can exist and care about their existence or that of others. It amazes me that I can sing along to almost any pink floyd song after not really listening to them for years.

I guess the first step towards optimism may be to quit taking shit for granted.

Hey, taking a shit, that's not bad either! Sure it's kind of gross, but really where would we be without it?

Get your yin-yang on and see the perfect balance of nature, even as implemented in humans.

Oh, like I said to you before - here's another potential starting point:

All that is, is necessarily as it should be.

And then figure out what you could have done to fuck up your worldview into thinking that's not true.

If nothing else, it's a good excercise.

Oh oh and one more thing:

Taking life too seriously is the leading cause of ending life.






And with all the sincerity I have, good luck to you, awe my brother.

Awe yeah. Why you trying to make me laugh, wes? Well, I am. LOL. Thanks so much. I do love Pink Floyd. I do like the (semi) fresh air on my face. Yes, shits can be good. Shits and grins, you know. Good man.

P.S. Did you see my compliment to you in the "What motivates you?" thread? My last post. I haven't forgotten you.

I guess what I am getting at is attitude. So many people say that attitude is everything, and I've generally got a bad attitude, so I'm trying to see if I can change that.

I'd just like to point out one entrapment that can happen when it comes to atittude: A person may get stuck, become rigid, clinging to the same attitude regardless of the circumstances.

For example, one may insist on being cheerful all the time. Or, gloomy. Or, indifferent.
Sticking to one attitude may seem like a good solution, it may appear to provide one with a sense of stability and security -- yet at the cost of either downplaying or blowing up the importance of a particular event or situation one is applying one's attitude to.

So I think it is important to find such a set of attitudes that allows one to respond to events and situations in non-detrimental ways.


I'm trying on the other things though.

:)


This is how I've been for a long time. They do take the life out of me. I know that. However, I used to be able to control my thoughts. A long, long time ago. I want to see if I can do that again. Not in the same way though.

Yes. There certainly are good ways, and bad ways to control one's thoughts.


I've felt this way for a lot of years spurious. I tend to take things to extremes though, in everything I do. I'm sick of the extreme lack of enjoyment, and I think that a lot of my problems can be solved with a change in outlook, a new good habit.

Some people go so far as to say that it is all a matter of habits, good and bad habits.
So, for example, it's not that somoene were a "bad person" -- they may just have a lot of bad habits. And key is, that habits can be learned, and unlearned.

I think this is a good way to think about how we do things, how we live our life, how we think of ourselves and other people.


As to the rest of what you said, I think I can agree with all of it. I can relate to you at least. I tend to be darkest around my family, though. They are all still Southern Baptist, and they just can't handle the fact that I say that I am an atheist. (Agnostic now, though). So, I tend to play up the part of dark visitor to their bright, sunshiny exuberance when I am around them, which I think is kind of unfair. They are set in their ways though. This is a problem for me.

You don't have to change them. And neither need you feel that you must change because of them.

Whatever beliefs any of you hold, there are long histories behind how those beliefs came to be. So when talking about these beliefs, there is very likely a lot more at stake than just a particular belief -- even though it may be that all that is actually being *said*, is just that particular belief. Many things go unsaid.

I think it is never good to argue about religion with friends and family.

eh not enough advice my my standards. of course everyone should half understand what my standerds are... i would say there are too many good thoughts, that you need some more. but it has been said after all that everyone's different, it's hard to say etc.

first to realize that as empty force of chi was saying you are free. you have the power, it is you who has that power. now, what is within you that will prevent anything (most would take my advice as too serious, so i shouldn't give it as i would like..... wha???) is something and the thing unique--- you must find out that it is you who you are, you who is everything that you do. there is a lot of advice, know yourself, read books.

but don't die. i'm close myself. about gone insane.

I know it's hard existabrent. Hang in there. Maybe it will get better.

More things to be thankful for?!

'To be optimistic'.....

... Try to find an environment that fits with you, so you can feel ok about yourself.

Not easy though. But I don't think that there is something wrong with you.

Good Greate concept, I can see it fit for my problems, may be will work for many others.

We tend to generalize our world through what we experience and thats wrong.

....
I tend to be darkest around my family, though. They are all still Southern Baptist, and they just can't handle the fact that I say that I am an atheist. (Agnostic now, though). So, I tend to play up the part of dark visitor to their bright, sunshiny exuberance when I am around them, which I think is kind of unfair. They are set in their ways though. This is a problem for me.... I had the same prroblem. Here is my solution that I found after lot of abuse on me.

U dont try to change any one, the best and the most U should do is infulence.

In this case the solution is to stay away from family and meet them regularily.

In this case the solution is to stay away from family and meet them regularily.Well, which is it? I'm not sure what you are saying here. Can you please clarify this for me? :)

Don't live with the family, but maintain a regular contact - say see them one evening a week, or for holiday weekends. In other words stay in touch, but don't be living out of each other's pockets.

Oh, sorry singularity. It's been so long since I've lived with family I didn't even consider that as an option. I see them maybe 3 times a year, the strict southern baptist side. My moms side is more secular, though still baptist, so I tend to relate better to them, and them to me. I live in the same town as my mom, and her dad, my grandad. I haven't seen them in over a month now, I guess. I told you, I seriously isolate. Hey, but maybe I can change that.

The best advice that I can give is: Happiness comes from fulfilling desires. Usually happiness doesnt allow for awareness. I love to have sex. When I didnt have a steady flow, i wasnt happy. Now that I do, I dont really think about it, but I dont desire much else.I seem to have an insatiable appetite, in everything. Even when I regularly had sex, it wasn't enough, or I'd want something more. Like a drug, I haven't been happy with moderation. In anything. I always want more. I think this goes back to expectations. They've always been too high, maybe? Maybe it goes to not being able to see or appreciate the good that is around me? What causes that? Anyone?

If a person, like me, wants to be more optimistic, what are some good thoughts/things that I could focus on? Specific things that you are thankful for in your lives. Specific things that make you optimistic. Hopeful. About life and living. :)
Razor blades, abattoirs, mortuarians stealing rings off your fingers before you are burried and worm-ridden, rejection, dead rabbits on the road, children in warzones missing limbs and horribly disfigured, obese people shitting themselves because they are immobile, the indifference of humanity to all things which do not promise wealth and fame, rape and AIDS, being tortured slowly with a rusty hacksaw, being trapped in a sewer, concentration camps, depressive and existential thoughts, jealousy, loneliness and chronic dissatisfaction, eternal isolation, drugs as a sole source of escape, willful death, feminists, wet carpet smells, and cabbage.

Fucking "A" man. Alright, dude, what really gets you hot?

Razor blades, abattoirs, mortuarians stealing rings off your fingers before you are burried and worm-ridden, rejection, dead rabbits on the road, children in warzones missing limbs and horribly disfigured, obese people shitting themselves because they are immobile, the indifference of humanity to all things which do not promise wealth and fame, rape and AIDS, being tortured slowly with a rusty hacksaw, being trapped in a sewer, concentration camps, depressive and existential thoughts, jealousy, loneliness and chronic dissatisfaction, eternal isolation, drugs as a sole source of escape, willful death, feminists, wet carpet smells, and cabbage.
why feminists?...we'll leafe cabbage fo now

Change whenever there is need to change. :m:

I seem to have an insatiable appetite, in everything. Even when I regularly had sex, it wasn't enough, or I'd want something more. Like a drug, I haven't been happy with moderation. In anything. I always want more. I think this goes back to expectations. They've always been too high, maybe? Maybe it goes to not being able to see or appreciate the good that is around me? What causes that? Anyone?

This is because the true nature of satisfying desires is not happiness, or satisfaction, contentment.

For example, if the true nature of eating chocolate were that it makes us happy, then it would also be true that the more chocolate we ate, the happier we'd be. Clearly, this is not the case. A piece of chocolate does indeed bring me some satisfaction. But at the tenth one, I am about to throw up.

There certainly is *some* happiness, some contentment in having our desires met. But that happiness is not lasting.


What is more, we tend to transpose desires. So, for example, in order to alleviate the feeling of loneliness, a person may binge eat, do drugs, overspend. These activities may bring some immediate satisfaction, but because the real desire had not been tended to, it remains, and grows even stronger.

If we do something for the sake of something else, we tend to end up frustrated.

The solution is to do exactly and only that what we're doing. When eating chocolate, *only* eat chocolate, don't also try to alleviate loneliness ...


;)

This is because the true nature of satisfying desires is not happiness, or satisfaction, contentment.

For example, if the true nature of eating chocolate were that it makes us happy, then it would also be true that the more chocolate we ate, the happier we'd be. Clearly, this is not the case. A piece of chocolate does indeed bring me some satisfaction. But at the tenth one, I am about to throw up.

There certainly is *some* happiness, some contentment in having our desires met. But that happiness is not lasting.
Moderation. And more realistic expectations? Don't expect to be as happy as you want to be?

What are your thoughts about, say, a thrill-seeker? I think this is similar to my need for excess and always wanting more than I have. In my life, I've always tried to find new ways to satisfy a desire for excitement. I've always been addicted to excitement, whether it be jumping out of plane, or rappelling down a steep mountain, or being in a war zone, or just skiing or white-water rafting or riding a roller-coaster. My only limitation here was money and/or time.

For the last few years, I've learned to live without any of this, because there were other areas of my life where this addiction was very destructive, like the drugs, the fights, the booze, and I couldn't seem to find a way to do the positive ones without the negative ones. How do you think I can get some of the good thrills back, without feeling the need for the bad ones too?

i like fire, i think it's beautiful.

Moderation. And more realistic expectations? Don't expect to be as happy as you want to be?

No, read the rest of my previous post.


How do you think I can get some of the good thrills back, without feeling the need for the bad ones too?

Don't seek happiness there where it cannot be found.
Don't seek substitutes.

Go to your local drivers ed school and ask to watch all of their videos. Trust me, you will be glad to be alive. Side effects of this therapy might include not wanting to see a car for the rest of your life.

Car>Optimism?

AmishRakeFight

i like fire, i think it's beautiful.

It is beautiful. Fire is pretty freaking hot too. :p

No, read the rest of my previous post.Okay. It's hard to keep everything in its place though. That one thing is always jumping over into that other thing, blurring the lines. Know what I mean?

Don't seek happiness there where it cannot be found.
Don't seek substitutes.God, you make this as confusing as hell. That's okay though. :)

Go to your local drivers ed school and ask to watch all of their videos. Trust me, you will be glad to be alive. Side effects of this therapy might include not wanting to see a car for the rest of your life.
LOL. Yeah, I remember a few of them from back when I was taking the course. Not very pretty.

If a person, like me, wants to be more optimistic, what are some good thoughts/things that I could focus on? Specific things that you are thankful for in your lives. Specific things that make you optimistic. Hopeful. About life and living.I don't know you so it's hard to delve into personal stuff. But there are a lot of things going on out in the world at large to be optimistic about.

1. Peace. Since the end of WWII, there has been an inexorable trend away from war. It hasn't been a steady retreat but sixty years later it's undeniable. The percentage of the human race killed or maimed per year by violent acts of governments or of paramilitary groups like terrorists has been falling dramatically. There are dangerous places to live right now like Iraq and Somalia, where foreign governments are killing civilians out of sheer hatred, but they're rather small populations compared to the targets of military action a hundred years ago, or two hundred, or three hundred... or any time since the Bronze Age. This could be the beginning of a new Era of Peace. Of course this President has to not to goad the world's Islamic population into a holy war before we have a chance to replace him with a woman in 2008, but life is always full of uncertainties.

2. Human and civil rights. I can only speak for America and perhaps the rest of the West. Fifty years ago many towns had signs at their city limits warning that only white people were allowed inside after sundown. Women who were still single by age 35 were regarded as unbalanced. Gays met in secret. Everyone was assumed to be Christian.

3. Prosperity. The per capita GDP of the earth's population has increased fantastically in my lifetime. It isn't exactly distributed evenly, but still tens of millions of people in countries once regarded as hopeless like China and India have telephones and TVs.

4. Population control. Prosperity turns out to be the most effective birth control. Average family size is falling everywhere. In places where people used to have twelve children, they now have eight. Where they used to have eight, they now have six. Do the math and you'll find that really makes a difference. The birth rate in Europe and North America has dropped below replacement level, so we are now taking in the excess populations of other countries to support our social security systems. Futurists used to predict a world of 20 billion people by the end of this century, and a future population growing without limit until the laws of thermodynamics kicked in and we started to die of heatstroke from waste heat that couldn't radiate out into space fast enough. Now they're predicting that the figure will top out, barely into eleven digits and perhaps stalling at ten, and start falling before 2100.

There are lots of things to be optimistic about. Whether or not your own life is as good as you'd like, in the future a lot of people will be a whole lot better off than we used to envision. And there will be a whole lot less of them!

Thanks Fraggle Rocker. I just wonder whether we today actually have it so much better than our ancestors. I mean, if I feel so shitty about life now, along with a lot of other people in the western world, just how much better are our lives really? Even with all the "progress."

The exploration of space is something to be happy about. [Fraggle Rocker didn't leave me much to comment on.]

The exploration of space is something to be happy about. [Fraggle Rocker didn't leave me much to comment on.]
hmmmm, te 'exploration of space'?...i can't help but feel that aspiration is but te modern version of the Catholic dream of escaping Earth for 'heaven'---ie., up-wards, away-------

don't get me wrong. i KNOW people, AND animals have actually had a taste of it, ad there are machine craft, and godknows what. but in REALITY it aintgonna be no POOR traversin space and planet-hoppin. oh know. and ........

Cottontop3000....where you said how you had had really thrilling experiences, and had also played hard......and you ask how can you somehow get that thrill backwitout forms of self-destruction
That question deeply fascinates me. i know man youth search for the 'buzz' and many get up to all sorts, usully self destructive and very destructive for others, and their mantra is usually how incredibly bored they are (i am not equating your thing with a youth thang. just seeing comparisons)......and i also sense just HOWfukin boring hasthis world been made. i feel we have beeen utterly domesticated, and everywhere's like a prison plaet. i really think one cant escape tis fact. it has to be faced

our ancestors for example couod roam, and hunt, and ride horses wildly over land and and and.....altho 'hard' the nowness of it must have included much exhileration. now many adults its claustophobic job, traffic jam, home, TV/computer,bed, workf,traffic...bla bla---and worse

loads of people cant cope wit te miserable manipulated lives. theydont even WALK in some prts of America do they??

hmmmm, te 'exploration of space'?...i can't help but feel that aspiration is but te modern version of the Catholic dream of escaping Earth for 'heaven'---ie., up-wards, away-------

don't get me wrong. i KNOW people, AND animals have actually had a taste of it, ad there are machine craft, and godknows what. but in REALITY it aintgonna be no POOR traversin space and planet-hoppin. oh know. and ........
I go there every day. Just browse through the latest reports from Cassini; look at photogrpahs of Jupiter's moons; follow the exploits of the Mars rovers.
It isn't an escape to heaven, its the first step in our journey to our future.

PS: Do you think we should invite Guru to join the conversation, so he doesn't feel left out?

I go there every day. Just browse through the latest reports from Cassini; look at photogrpahs of Jupiter's moons; follow the exploits of the Mars rovers.
It isn't an escape to heaven, its the first step in our journey to our future.

PS: Do you think we should invite Guru to join the conversation, so he doesn't feel left out?
no. i'm fussy who i have threesomes wid

thia thing abouy space is interesting, but i donwanna derail this thread, probbably may start one about it....then we can all go to Uranus

God, you make this as confusing as hell. That's okay though.

It's not confusing, it just requires clarity, honesty and humility. Which may be hard and nasty sometimes.
But it's only for the good.



P.S.

Death Beckon*ed*

:)

The trick to positive thinking is pretending you'll be reincarnated as a cat. I haven't done this before, but it works for Tom Cruise in Vanilla Sky.

Dennis Hopper played a one-legged (amputee) character named "Feck" in the movie "River's Edge"-- and among his many humorous lines, had this to say (recalling the night he wrecked his motorcycle, drunk, and lost his leg):



I remember, laying there in the ditch bleedin'... stinkin'... lookin' around... looked at my bike, saw my leg.. and I remember thinking 'Hey, I wonder if there's any beer left in that can'...




:eek:

P.S.

Death Beckon*ed*

:) :) You noticed that? Cool. I figured that was as good a place to start as any, and maybe better than some, if you really think about the way I've been thinking.

P.S. Space exploration and possible extraterrestrials are two things that do motivate me. Thanks for reminding me Ophiolite.

Good show, Sirs...

And a good morning to you, sir. I'm off to bed and a sweet dream or two. :o

Dennis Hopper played a one-legged (amputee) character named "Feck" in the movie "River's Edge"-- and among his many humorous lines, had this to say (recalling the night he wrecked his motorcycle, drunk, and lost his leg):



I remember, laying there in the ditch bleedin'... stinkin'... lookin' around... looked at my bike, saw my leg.. and I remember thinking 'Hey, I wonder if there's any beer left in that can'...




:eek:


hell yeah! i dont know anyone else who has ever quoted that before. i say that to people when i am at parties....i dont drink or use drugs so i am always the sober guy at the party.
(The Devil Inside enters the room, to find it filled with inebriated college students)
Guy#1: Hey man! How's it goin'? wanna hit this bong?
Guy#2: Yeah man!! We are getting sooo wasted! WHEEEEEEEWWWW!!!
The Devil Inside:I remember, laying there in the ditch bleedin'... stinkin'... lookin' around... looked at my bike, saw my leg.. and I remember thinking 'Hey, I wonder if there's any beer left in that can'...
(The Devil Inside walks away, and listens to them discuss what he just said)
(Then he breakdances for seven hours)

lolz~ yessir, I was the "golden ride" also, many times... quit drinking when I turned 21

lolz~ yessir, I was the "golden ride" also, many times... quit drinking when I turned 21

Same here. Golden, platinum, or sweet, whatever you want to call it. However, I didn't start drinking till I was 20. And quit (for the most part ;) ), at 29. 10 years of the best ups and the lowest lows.

Good thought: The lowest lows aren't quite so low anymore.

Same here. Golden, platinum, or sweet, whatever you want to call it. However, I didn't start drinking till I was 20. And quit (for the most part ;) ), at 29. 10 years of the best ups and the lowest lows.

Good thought: The lowest lows aren't quite so low anymore.
less puking too.

If a person, like me, wants to be more optimistic, what are some good thoughts/things that I could focus on? Specific things that you are thankful for in your lives. Specific things that make you optimistic. Hopeful. About life and living. :)

Your health, the fact that you have life at all
Admire the beauty of creation, it surrounds you, the sky..the earth, the flowers, admire the colours, admire the textures, appreciate and take delight in your ability to experience sensation.

Being optimistic, well some people see half a glass of milk as half empty, some see it as being half full! It is a state of mind.

You can improve your state of mind through diet, (some do it through durgs! Which I don't reccomend) but you can do it through diet, lots of oily fish and sunlight. These improve seratonin production levels in the brain which is responsible for our feelings of happiness, so if your seratonin levels are low you will feel low, so up those levels, check out on the web for natural ways you can do this!

Want to have good thoughts? Do something good for the society, something that does not benefit you directly or doesnt benefit you at all, and then after you've done that good thing, think about it and tell yourself, "Didn't that feel awsome? I want to do something more for the society and world improvement, something that can make this world more happier place to live". Example? clean trash, smile to strangers (nice smile...like...its a good day smile...(I know what ya thinkin)...), care more for your wife, listen more attentavily to your fellowmates, bring some gifts to the people you live or/and work with.