Not sure I can add anything that hasn't already been said... but if you need someone to talk to in person, then I'm not far away and I can always find the time.
I've been through some of what you're suffering now and I didn't find any easy answers, but the fog did clear with time.
*huge hugs* mate.
I'm really, really lost. Someone please help?
Bog, I reckon you've just seen straight through the shiny facade which we live behind and stared reality right in the face. I try to ignore those huge questions, but that isn't a defeatist attitude.
They're HUGE unanswerable questions. They're terrifying.
If I were you, I'd make a change. Maybe you've been living under the same routine for too long or something? When life becomes predictable and stale, that's when our minds start to wander to those massive questions again.
Well that's what I think anyway
Big hugs in your direction Bog, hope that babble helped in some way
They're HUGE unanswerable questions. They're terrifying.
If I were you, I'd make a change. Maybe you've been living under the same routine for too long or something? When life becomes predictable and stale, that's when our minds start to wander to those massive questions again.
Well that's what I think anyway
Big hugs in your direction Bog, hope that babble helped in some way
Hey Bog,
There's things that people say to you when your feeling low that, although they're good bits of advice, mean nothing to you because you're in a different place to them. The fact that you've laid it out and said, 'look I'm feeling fucking bad, what can I do?' shows that you really want to get back on track and that should be encouraging to you (and everyone else). All the posts I've read in this thread so far are full of useful and practical advice that will help you.
I'd like to say though, for me, what works best is exercise. Kung fu, Tai Chi, something like that. Proper breathing and posture, fruit, sleep and water.
I look forward to meeting you Bog, like many others here. And I want you to know that I hope you can find your groove again soon, mate. Peace to you.
Jon.
There's things that people say to you when your feeling low that, although they're good bits of advice, mean nothing to you because you're in a different place to them. The fact that you've laid it out and said, 'look I'm feeling fucking bad, what can I do?' shows that you really want to get back on track and that should be encouraging to you (and everyone else). All the posts I've read in this thread so far are full of useful and practical advice that will help you.
I'd like to say though, for me, what works best is exercise. Kung fu, Tai Chi, something like that. Proper breathing and posture, fruit, sleep and water.
I look forward to meeting you Bog, like many others here. And I want you to know that I hope you can find your groove again soon, mate. Peace to you.
Jon.
-
Saint Sandy
- BANNED
- Posts: 5624
- Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2002 3:54 am 0
- Location: no.1 at the end of the bar
I know where you are coming from, and I think that at some point in our lives, we all go through this "dark night of the soul" . I think that feelings of lonliness, being lost, helpless, marooned are all part of being human. Only through coming through these hard times can you truimph, become a better man, progress, evolve, .
Imagine it is just a very rainy horrible day outside, cold wind a'blowing, and you are the only flower in the garden full of weeds and the dead.
But, the bad weather WILL pass, and when you look up, not only will you see that the sun is shining, but that there are millions of beautiful flowers , just like you, all under the sun.
Some people say I'm just a acid casualty, I prefer the term "veteran of the acid wars" myself, but , for what its worth, here's what I think.
The world, the universe, your bones, flesh , skin, brain are all just "matter"
YOU ARE NOT THIS BODY!!!
I'll put my hand up and say I believe in God, but not in "God" i.e something that our little brains can hope to explain, so we put a label on ..." " , trying to understand the infinite.
Through time spent in Buddhist monastries, lots of reading about different religions, a few spells post burn-out in Bhaktivedanta Manor, the Hare Krsna HQ in the UK, and sometimes popping into church - to get away from the madness og the world , for some quiet, to get in touch with the part of you that is the Self. Not the physical, money grabbing " ME ME ME !!!!" of the body. But your true nature - like a drop of water in a very veryt large sea ...that some call "God" , some call "Love" , some "Allah" , some "Krsna" .
If you do seek professional help, be very careful about which doctor / hospital you go do. DO NOT just let them fob you off with Prozac or Valium, Those two changed my life if many ways, but at the end of the day, I should have dealt with the problems myself. "Doctor heal thyself"
If you problems are coming from a bad relationship / work / or are alcohol or drug related then yes, seek counselling - it will help. The most important thing you need now though is re-assurance that YOU ARE A GOOD BLOKE. Yes, the world sucks, but , good or bad, its through trying that we prevail , succeed. Sure, fuck the lords of creation. If it makes you feel better, go up to the top of a hill and yell abuse at the universe! I used to put the mattress on the floor and scream and shout and beat the shit out of it to feel better. Let the feelings out. Get rid of them. Don't just sit in a corner, going grey, slowly death. Talk to your family, talk to your friewnds , talk to us on this forum , everyone says we're the friendliest, fluffiest forum around, so you can count on us too ... look a the number of intelligent posts that pooeple have taken time out to post in his thread already.
so come on, chin up old boy, all things must pass, IT WILL BE OK! TRUST US!
Imagine it is just a very rainy horrible day outside, cold wind a'blowing, and you are the only flower in the garden full of weeds and the dead.
But, the bad weather WILL pass, and when you look up, not only will you see that the sun is shining, but that there are millions of beautiful flowers , just like you, all under the sun.
Some people say I'm just a acid casualty, I prefer the term "veteran of the acid wars" myself, but , for what its worth, here's what I think.
The world, the universe, your bones, flesh , skin, brain are all just "matter"
YOU ARE NOT THIS BODY!!!
I'll put my hand up and say I believe in God, but not in "God" i.e something that our little brains can hope to explain, so we put a label on ..." " , trying to understand the infinite.
Through time spent in Buddhist monastries, lots of reading about different religions, a few spells post burn-out in Bhaktivedanta Manor, the Hare Krsna HQ in the UK, and sometimes popping into church - to get away from the madness og the world , for some quiet, to get in touch with the part of you that is the Self. Not the physical, money grabbing " ME ME ME !!!!" of the body. But your true nature - like a drop of water in a very veryt large sea ...that some call "God" , some call "Love" , some "Allah" , some "Krsna" .
If you do seek professional help, be very careful about which doctor / hospital you go do. DO NOT just let them fob you off with Prozac or Valium, Those two changed my life if many ways, but at the end of the day, I should have dealt with the problems myself. "Doctor heal thyself"
If you problems are coming from a bad relationship / work / or are alcohol or drug related then yes, seek counselling - it will help. The most important thing you need now though is re-assurance that YOU ARE A GOOD BLOKE. Yes, the world sucks, but , good or bad, its through trying that we prevail , succeed. Sure, fuck the lords of creation. If it makes you feel better, go up to the top of a hill and yell abuse at the universe! I used to put the mattress on the floor and scream and shout and beat the shit out of it to feel better. Let the feelings out. Get rid of them. Don't just sit in a corner, going grey, slowly death. Talk to your family, talk to your friewnds , talk to us on this forum , everyone says we're the friendliest, fluffiest forum around, so you can count on us too ... look a the number of intelligent posts that pooeple have taken time out to post in his thread already.
so come on, chin up old boy, all things must pass, IT WILL BE OK! TRUST US!
"And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure."
HI there ...
I'm not sure if I can add any thing more to what has been said already. A lot of wisdon there.
Don't be afraid of us all saying "me too" as that shows you are not alone. I DO believe in God and stuggle with my faith on a daily basis. Having faith can open up more questions that it answers. Have you read the Dalai Lamas and Howard Cutler's book "The Art of Happiness". I found it a tremendously comforting book and it tries to take the teachings of the Dalai Lama and look at it from a Western psychiatric point of view. Seriously, a good read and I think it might help put you on the right road. Speaking of roads, another book I found useful was "The Road Less Travelled" by Scott Peck. This is about spirtual/mental growth.
There are supposed to be four stages of spritual growth.
Stage1:
Chaotic, Antisocial. Frequently pretenders; they pretend they are loving and pious, covering up their lack of principles. Although they may pretend to be loving (and think of themselves that way), their relationships with their fellow human beings are all essentially manipulative and self-serving. They really don't give a hoot about anyone else. I call the stage chaotic because these people are basically unprincipled. Being unprincipled, there is nothing that governs them except their own will. And since the will from moment to moment can go this way or that, there is a lack of integrity to their being. They often end up, therefore in jails or find themselves in another form of social difficulty. Some, however, may be quite disciplined in the services of expediency and their own ambition and so may rise in positions of considerable prestige and power, even to become presidents or influential preachers.
Stage2:
Formal, Institutional, Fundamental. Beginning the work of submitting themselves to principle-the law, but they do not yet understand the spirit of the law, consequently they are legalistic, parochial, and dogmatic. They are threatened by anyone who thinks differently from them, as they have the "truth," and so regard it as their responsibility to convert or save the other 90 or 99 percent of humanity who are not "true believers." They are religious for clear cut answers, with the security of a big daddy God and organization, to escape their fear of living in the mystery of life, the mystery of uncertainty in the ever moving and expanding unknown. Instead they choose the formulations, the stagnation of prescribed methods and doctrines that spell out life and attempt to escape fear. Yet these theological reasonings simply cover over fear, hide fear and do not transcend it in spite of with acceptance in expanding movement. All those outside of Stage II are perceived to be as Stage I, as they do not understand Stage III and Stage IV. Those who do fall, reverting from Stage II to Stage I are called "backsliders."
There is a Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, mentality (one-sided thinking - ignorance that produces hostility) in every religion, the one-sidedness, in every ideology. Christianity cannot be condemned as responsible for the fundamentalists who claim to represent such. One just has to look at Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr. to see the opposite of such thinking. You can find the Falwell in Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism, Mohammedism and of course Christianity. That is the narrow one-sided exclusiveness that limits insight to one set of rules and one objective truth, under the literal logic or rationialism, that fails to apprehend the unseen intuitive essence of existence and ignorantly labels outsiders as misled sinners, while surrounding themselves with interior neurotic and finite walls of security and certainty. All is safe in this illusion, but all is not just, nor fair, and does not transcend prejudice that surpasses tribal identity, an identity that must be scrapped in order to bring higher consciousness of planetary cultural peace and love based on principle with intuitive insight.
There is also a Bin Laden (evil intolerance) in every religious culture and teaching, in every social, political and cultural view. Islam cannot be condemned as responsible for the extreme fundamentalists who incorporate harm and war. One just has to look at the other side within Islam, to the Sufi of compassion and peace, that of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen or Hazrat Inayat Khan. Yet the evil of extreme fundamentalism resides in all facets of society, those who would kill and destroy, torture and humiliate, all in the name of their theological and ideological views. They are of course the extreme fundamentalists, yet all forms of fundamentalism, both moderate to extreme, Stage II mentality, fails integration with non-acceptance, that of one-dimensional perception. And yet, in each of these same cultures, although the minority, there exists communal and mystical persons, Stage IV persons, those transmitting inclusiveness and compassion, who transcend all divisiveness in oneness.
STAGE 3:
Skeptic, Individual, questioner, including atheists, agnostics and those scientifically minded who demand a measurable, well researched and logical explanation. Although frequently "nonbelievers," people in Stage III are generally more spiritually developed than many content to remain in Stage II. Although individualistic, they are not the least bit antisocial. To the contrary, they are often deeply involved in and committed to social causes. They make up their own minds about things and are no more likely to believe everything they read in the papers than to believe it is necessary for someone to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior (as opposed to Buddha or Mao or Socrates) in order to be saved. They make loving, intensely dedicated parents. As skeptics they are often scientists, and as such they are again highly submitted to principle. Indeed, what we call the scientific method is a collection of conventions and procedures that have been designed to combat our extraordinary capacity to deceive ourselves in the interest of submission to something higher than our own immediate emotional or intellectual comfort--namely truth. Advanced Stage III men and women are active truth seekers.
Despite being scientifically minded, in many cases even atheists, they are on a higher spiritual level than Stage II, being a required stage of growth to enter into Stage IV. The churches age old dilemma: how to bring people from Stage II to Stage IV, without allowing them to enter Stage III.
Stage 4
Mystic, communal. Out of love and commitment to the whole, using their ability to transcend their backgrounds, culture and limitations with all others, reaching toward the notion of world community and the possibility of either transcending culture or -- depending on which way you want to use the words -- belonging to a planetary culture. They are religious, not looking for clear cut, proto type answers, but desiring to enter into the mystery of uncertainty, living in the unknown. The Christian mystic, as with all other mystics, Sufi and Zen alike, through contemplation, meditation, reflection and prayer, see the Christ, Gods indwelling Spirit or the Buddha nature, in all people, including all the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and so forth, recognizing the connectedness of all humanity with God, never separating oneself from others with doctrine and scripture, recognizing that all scripture acts as fallible pointers of inspiration, unable to capture the essence of truth outside of both human perception and the linguistic straight jacket of language and articulation, that is, the words of fallible men who experienced the nature of God, that of their inner true self, and attempted to record their experience in human words, words constrained by the era of time they were written in that became compromised the moment they were penned and are further removed from objectivity when interpreted by us, fallible men and women who read them.
It is as if the words of each had two different translations. In the Christian example: "Jesus is my savior," Stage II often translates this into a Jesus who is a kind of fairy godmother who will rescue us whenever we get in trouble as long as we remember to call upon his name. At Stage IV, "Jesus is my savior" is translated as "Jesus, through his life and death, taught the way, not through virgin births, cosmic ascensions, walking on water and blood sacrifice of reconciliation - man with an external daddy Warbucks that lives in the sky - mythological stories interpreted as literal accounts, but rather as one loving the whole, the outcasts, overcoming prejudices, incorporating inclusiveness and unconditional love, this, with the courage to be as oneself - that is what I must follow for my salvation." Two totally different meanings.
The Stage IV - the mystic - views the conception of "back sliding" as the movement away from the collective consciousness and true inner nature, returning to the separate self - the ego, as opposed to the Stage II - the fundamentalist, whose conception of "back sliding," is the movement away from mapped out security to that of chaos. Two totally different views.
Scott Peck stated in his books that Therapy can help with spiritual growth. If you find the correct therapist. I would try and therapist who comes from the Carl Jung school of thinking rather than the purely Freudian type. Jung and Freud fell out due to Jung's spritual beliefs.
I will leave you with a bit of advice of my own. Try and have it as a goal to lead a balanced life.
Exercise Regularly.
Sleep Well (or try and practice good sleeping habbits).
Eat well.
Practice daily relaxation techniques. 20 mins per days. e.g. Meditation, progressive muscle relaxation or Yoga.
Try and find a good balance between work and play, being alone and being with people.
Cultivate love, empathy, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness.
and be kind to your mistakes...
a big hug..
Elk
I'm not sure if I can add any thing more to what has been said already. A lot of wisdon there.
Don't be afraid of us all saying "me too" as that shows you are not alone. I DO believe in God and stuggle with my faith on a daily basis. Having faith can open up more questions that it answers. Have you read the Dalai Lamas and Howard Cutler's book "The Art of Happiness". I found it a tremendously comforting book and it tries to take the teachings of the Dalai Lama and look at it from a Western psychiatric point of view. Seriously, a good read and I think it might help put you on the right road. Speaking of roads, another book I found useful was "The Road Less Travelled" by Scott Peck. This is about spirtual/mental growth.
There are supposed to be four stages of spritual growth.
Stage1:
Chaotic, Antisocial. Frequently pretenders; they pretend they are loving and pious, covering up their lack of principles. Although they may pretend to be loving (and think of themselves that way), their relationships with their fellow human beings are all essentially manipulative and self-serving. They really don't give a hoot about anyone else. I call the stage chaotic because these people are basically unprincipled. Being unprincipled, there is nothing that governs them except their own will. And since the will from moment to moment can go this way or that, there is a lack of integrity to their being. They often end up, therefore in jails or find themselves in another form of social difficulty. Some, however, may be quite disciplined in the services of expediency and their own ambition and so may rise in positions of considerable prestige and power, even to become presidents or influential preachers.
Stage2:
Formal, Institutional, Fundamental. Beginning the work of submitting themselves to principle-the law, but they do not yet understand the spirit of the law, consequently they are legalistic, parochial, and dogmatic. They are threatened by anyone who thinks differently from them, as they have the "truth," and so regard it as their responsibility to convert or save the other 90 or 99 percent of humanity who are not "true believers." They are religious for clear cut answers, with the security of a big daddy God and organization, to escape their fear of living in the mystery of life, the mystery of uncertainty in the ever moving and expanding unknown. Instead they choose the formulations, the stagnation of prescribed methods and doctrines that spell out life and attempt to escape fear. Yet these theological reasonings simply cover over fear, hide fear and do not transcend it in spite of with acceptance in expanding movement. All those outside of Stage II are perceived to be as Stage I, as they do not understand Stage III and Stage IV. Those who do fall, reverting from Stage II to Stage I are called "backsliders."
There is a Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, mentality (one-sided thinking - ignorance that produces hostility) in every religion, the one-sidedness, in every ideology. Christianity cannot be condemned as responsible for the fundamentalists who claim to represent such. One just has to look at Mother Teresa or Martin Luther King, Jr. to see the opposite of such thinking. You can find the Falwell in Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Jainism, Mohammedism and of course Christianity. That is the narrow one-sided exclusiveness that limits insight to one set of rules and one objective truth, under the literal logic or rationialism, that fails to apprehend the unseen intuitive essence of existence and ignorantly labels outsiders as misled sinners, while surrounding themselves with interior neurotic and finite walls of security and certainty. All is safe in this illusion, but all is not just, nor fair, and does not transcend prejudice that surpasses tribal identity, an identity that must be scrapped in order to bring higher consciousness of planetary cultural peace and love based on principle with intuitive insight.
There is also a Bin Laden (evil intolerance) in every religious culture and teaching, in every social, political and cultural view. Islam cannot be condemned as responsible for the extreme fundamentalists who incorporate harm and war. One just has to look at the other side within Islam, to the Sufi of compassion and peace, that of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen or Hazrat Inayat Khan. Yet the evil of extreme fundamentalism resides in all facets of society, those who would kill and destroy, torture and humiliate, all in the name of their theological and ideological views. They are of course the extreme fundamentalists, yet all forms of fundamentalism, both moderate to extreme, Stage II mentality, fails integration with non-acceptance, that of one-dimensional perception. And yet, in each of these same cultures, although the minority, there exists communal and mystical persons, Stage IV persons, those transmitting inclusiveness and compassion, who transcend all divisiveness in oneness.
STAGE 3:
Skeptic, Individual, questioner, including atheists, agnostics and those scientifically minded who demand a measurable, well researched and logical explanation. Although frequently "nonbelievers," people in Stage III are generally more spiritually developed than many content to remain in Stage II. Although individualistic, they are not the least bit antisocial. To the contrary, they are often deeply involved in and committed to social causes. They make up their own minds about things and are no more likely to believe everything they read in the papers than to believe it is necessary for someone to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior (as opposed to Buddha or Mao or Socrates) in order to be saved. They make loving, intensely dedicated parents. As skeptics they are often scientists, and as such they are again highly submitted to principle. Indeed, what we call the scientific method is a collection of conventions and procedures that have been designed to combat our extraordinary capacity to deceive ourselves in the interest of submission to something higher than our own immediate emotional or intellectual comfort--namely truth. Advanced Stage III men and women are active truth seekers.
Despite being scientifically minded, in many cases even atheists, they are on a higher spiritual level than Stage II, being a required stage of growth to enter into Stage IV. The churches age old dilemma: how to bring people from Stage II to Stage IV, without allowing them to enter Stage III.
Stage 4
Mystic, communal. Out of love and commitment to the whole, using their ability to transcend their backgrounds, culture and limitations with all others, reaching toward the notion of world community and the possibility of either transcending culture or -- depending on which way you want to use the words -- belonging to a planetary culture. They are religious, not looking for clear cut, proto type answers, but desiring to enter into the mystery of uncertainty, living in the unknown. The Christian mystic, as with all other mystics, Sufi and Zen alike, through contemplation, meditation, reflection and prayer, see the Christ, Gods indwelling Spirit or the Buddha nature, in all people, including all the Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Jews and so forth, recognizing the connectedness of all humanity with God, never separating oneself from others with doctrine and scripture, recognizing that all scripture acts as fallible pointers of inspiration, unable to capture the essence of truth outside of both human perception and the linguistic straight jacket of language and articulation, that is, the words of fallible men who experienced the nature of God, that of their inner true self, and attempted to record their experience in human words, words constrained by the era of time they were written in that became compromised the moment they were penned and are further removed from objectivity when interpreted by us, fallible men and women who read them.
It is as if the words of each had two different translations. In the Christian example: "Jesus is my savior," Stage II often translates this into a Jesus who is a kind of fairy godmother who will rescue us whenever we get in trouble as long as we remember to call upon his name. At Stage IV, "Jesus is my savior" is translated as "Jesus, through his life and death, taught the way, not through virgin births, cosmic ascensions, walking on water and blood sacrifice of reconciliation - man with an external daddy Warbucks that lives in the sky - mythological stories interpreted as literal accounts, but rather as one loving the whole, the outcasts, overcoming prejudices, incorporating inclusiveness and unconditional love, this, with the courage to be as oneself - that is what I must follow for my salvation." Two totally different meanings.
The Stage IV - the mystic - views the conception of "back sliding" as the movement away from the collective consciousness and true inner nature, returning to the separate self - the ego, as opposed to the Stage II - the fundamentalist, whose conception of "back sliding," is the movement away from mapped out security to that of chaos. Two totally different views.
Scott Peck stated in his books that Therapy can help with spiritual growth. If you find the correct therapist. I would try and therapist who comes from the Carl Jung school of thinking rather than the purely Freudian type. Jung and Freud fell out due to Jung's spritual beliefs.
I will leave you with a bit of advice of my own. Try and have it as a goal to lead a balanced life.
Exercise Regularly.
Sleep Well (or try and practice good sleeping habbits).
Eat well.
Practice daily relaxation techniques. 20 mins per days. e.g. Meditation, progressive muscle relaxation or Yoga.
Try and find a good balance between work and play, being alone and being with people.
Cultivate love, empathy, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness.
and be kind to your mistakes...
a big hug..
Elk
"Actually, it's not easy to become a Lama. It is very easy to get names, but it very difference to become, really, a Lama." - The Dali Lama
-
Mr_Flashpants
- Baaaa!
- Posts: 663
- Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2002 1:45 pm 0
- Location: Dublin, Ireland
- Contact:
Bog,
It's as genuinely distressing to read something like this, as it must be to write.
My advice (for what it's worth) is simple: take a break. Turn off your computer and throw a sheet over it.
Quit the job you're doing. Earn the amount you need to live on each week by doing something you've never considered doing before, whether that's working in a video shop or flipping burgers or stacking shelves - somthing part-time. Doing a job that's not also your hobby will give you some time to escape the pressure you're putting on yourself.
Get out each day - have a nice walk in a park, feed ducks, sit in a library, sit in a coffee shop and listen to other people's conversations, strike up one yourself with the person next to you at the bus stop, pack an overnight bag and hike to a hostel in the country. Do something creative each week as well - write a letter to a newspaper, go to a painting class, assemble an airfix model, look at the great big sky on your back in a field and see the clouds as shapes of animals or people you know.
Make something with your hands. Technology is great, but it's very easy for people who work with technology all day to get depressed - there's no physical output from the result of their work. Try some woodwork - it's the best feeling in the world (the smell of timber, the texture, the beautiful patterns and lines...).
Exercise. It releases powerful chemicals into the brain which makes you feel more positive (try hurling - there's great satisfaction in smaking a sliothar with a hurling stick and you can pretend to be Irish which is what everyone wants to be anyway!).
Have a great big cry when you want to. The sense of emotional release you feel after one is great. We're human beings - we're meant to cry.
Know that you will come through this and be a better person precisely because of this.
Be proud that you can feel this way - depression isn't something to be ashamed of. It means that you truly are alive, you've just temporarily lost your way.
It's as genuinely distressing to read something like this, as it must be to write.
My advice (for what it's worth) is simple: take a break. Turn off your computer and throw a sheet over it.
Quit the job you're doing. Earn the amount you need to live on each week by doing something you've never considered doing before, whether that's working in a video shop or flipping burgers or stacking shelves - somthing part-time. Doing a job that's not also your hobby will give you some time to escape the pressure you're putting on yourself.
Get out each day - have a nice walk in a park, feed ducks, sit in a library, sit in a coffee shop and listen to other people's conversations, strike up one yourself with the person next to you at the bus stop, pack an overnight bag and hike to a hostel in the country. Do something creative each week as well - write a letter to a newspaper, go to a painting class, assemble an airfix model, look at the great big sky on your back in a field and see the clouds as shapes of animals or people you know.
Make something with your hands. Technology is great, but it's very easy for people who work with technology all day to get depressed - there's no physical output from the result of their work. Try some woodwork - it's the best feeling in the world (the smell of timber, the texture, the beautiful patterns and lines...).
Exercise. It releases powerful chemicals into the brain which makes you feel more positive (try hurling - there's great satisfaction in smaking a sliothar with a hurling stick and you can pretend to be Irish which is what everyone wants to be anyway!).
Have a great big cry when you want to. The sense of emotional release you feel after one is great. We're human beings - we're meant to cry.
Know that you will come through this and be a better person precisely because of this.
Be proud that you can feel this way - depression isn't something to be ashamed of. It means that you truly are alive, you've just temporarily lost your way.
"Don't get up gentlemen, I'm only passing through" - Bob Dylan
Looks like I'm at stage 3 then...
And yes, Jeff is right, nothing can make you smile like a brand spanking new (well sort of) arcade cab to play with
Bog mate... we're all here for you when you need to speak, what's on your mind and being the fluffy people that we are, you shouldn't feel any need to truncate or hold back what you want to say. I think many of us have thought similar things at some point or the other (I know I have) and most of the time it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. About as much sense as trying to understand women
And yes, Jeff is right, nothing can make you smile like a brand spanking new (well sort of) arcade cab to play with
Bog mate... we're all here for you when you need to speak, what's on your mind and being the fluffy people that we are, you shouldn't feel any need to truncate or hold back what you want to say. I think many of us have thought similar things at some point or the other (I know I have) and most of the time it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. About as much sense as trying to understand women
Lie with passion and be forever damned...
Xbox: Mayhem64
Xbox: Mayhem64
-
Saint Sandy
- BANNED
- Posts: 5624
- Joined: Tue Jun 11, 2002 3:54 am 0
- Location: no.1 at the end of the bar
ooooh blummin'ell I think trying to understand the opposite sex is the last thing for Bog to worry about at the moment !
Nice to know Bog that you are part of the fluffiest friendliest forum in the world ...ever! isn't it!
Nice to know Bog that you are part of the fluffiest friendliest forum in the world ...ever! isn't it!
"And then I realized... like I was shot... like I was shot with a diamond... a diamond bullet right through my forehead. And I thought: My God... the genius of that. The genius. The will to do that. Perfect, genuine, complete, crystalline, pure."
On the religious front, I've found great solace in being an agnostic pantheist
Okay, it's not a "real" religion (not like, say, Jediism) - it's more of a description of what I choose to believe in.
Basically it goes like this: I don't know whether there's a god or not, and frankly I don't much care. I live my life by broadly treating others as I would like to be treated, and don't get involved in rape, pillage, murder, or fare dodging. As such, I feel that I'm reasonably safe come judgement day, because if there is a god, and he's going to be that petty about all my minor transgressions, then he probably lives in a pretty boring place anyway, and I'd rather not end up there.
However - and here's the pantheist part - if there is such a thing as a higher being, I'd really prefer to find that there's a whole load of them. Less Christianity, and more Greek, Roman, Norse or Egyptian gods. I want my gods to be part of an ongoing soap-opera. I don't want a beardy bloke sitting peacefully on a cloud. I want Clash of the Titans.
I don't know if that helps, but if anyone wants to sign up they simply have to tell people that they are agnostic pantheists whenever they have the chance, and be prepared to trot out something like the text above to back it up.
Okay, it's not a "real" religion (not like, say, Jediism) - it's more of a description of what I choose to believe in.
Basically it goes like this: I don't know whether there's a god or not, and frankly I don't much care. I live my life by broadly treating others as I would like to be treated, and don't get involved in rape, pillage, murder, or fare dodging. As such, I feel that I'm reasonably safe come judgement day, because if there is a god, and he's going to be that petty about all my minor transgressions, then he probably lives in a pretty boring place anyway, and I'd rather not end up there.
However - and here's the pantheist part - if there is such a thing as a higher being, I'd really prefer to find that there's a whole load of them. Less Christianity, and more Greek, Roman, Norse or Egyptian gods. I want my gods to be part of an ongoing soap-opera. I don't want a beardy bloke sitting peacefully on a cloud. I want Clash of the Titans.
I don't know if that helps, but if anyone wants to sign up they simply have to tell people that they are agnostic pantheists whenever they have the chance, and be prepared to trot out something like the text above to back it up.
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