Questioning Life?

 

"One of the greatest tragedies I can think of is for a person to die having never fully questioned the life he was born into." 

-- Dan Pearce, author, photographer, artist

What hard truths of life does everyone need to realize?

Life isn’t fair. That’s it. Learn to embrace this fact, stop whining about it, and spend more of your precious life being happy always.

I want to leave this planet because I have inferior genetics. Do you have any advice other than to get over it and learn to accept it?

Nope, but you also don’t have to get over it. What you are required to do, however, is learn to embrace it. Your thought that you have “inferior genetics” is the lesson you have been assigned. You must learn to rise above it and overcome the obstacles presented. If you don’t learn to do this and choose to “leave this planet” for greener pastures, you will fail. You will find yourself right back here with the same “inferior genetics” until you get with the program and learn to overcome them. This is the reality of life. We all have our own lessons to learn and our own burdens to bear. Better you should not waste this life and, rather, strive to be happy always.

"Being happy is to recognize that is worthwhile to live, despite all the challenges, misunderstandings, and times of crisis." Explain your thoughts and feelings about it. Include specific ways in which you will develop yourself further.

The challenges, misunderstandings, times of crisis, and so much more, are all lessons we have been assigned to learn. We do this through choices and decisions. Bad choices should not be frowned upon as they are lessons we must learn. Study what you did wrong, learn from it, and move forward with new knowledge of how not to make the same mistake again.

At 67 years of age, I am not done making mistakes. Each day is another gift from God and another chance to excel in whatever lessons present themselves to me. I wake up each morning and thank God for the gift of another opportunity. I smile and think to myself, “Bring it!”

To not think it is worthwhile to live this gift would be an insult to the Power who gives it. Better to just get on with life and learn to be happy always.

“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.”

-- Albert Camus (1913-1960), philosopher, author, journalist 

Imagine that your smile had superpowers, what would you do with that magical smile?

Share it with everybody, especially those in the League of the Perpetually Offended.

What happened at a Thanksgiving dinner that made you say, "You gotta be kidding me?"

I cooked all but the turkey the day before, then mom was admitted to the hospital. “You gotta be kidding me!” 

Who has seen past what you choose to project?

Many people claim to. The problem these people have is that what you see is what you get. At 67 years of age, I still don’t choose to project anything other than what I truly am. I’ve been this way most of my life, which is why my mother always said my worst enemy would be my mouth, and she was so right.

Who I am was the impetus for my divorce after 20 years of fighting to keep a failed marriage alive. I have made bad choices and decisions and I, with all humility, wore them on my sleeve along with the lessons I learned.

What I project is not really a choice as it is the reality of who I am. I strive to be happy always, and I hope others will join me on this journey as they travel their own path through this life and into the next.

“You differ from a great man in only one respect: the great man was once a very little man, but he developed one important quality: he recognized the smallness and narrowness of his thoughts and actions. Under the pressure of some task that meant a great deal to him, he learned to see how his smallness, his pettiness endangered his happiness. In other words, a great man knows when and in what way he is a little man. A little man does not know he is little and is afraid to know. He hides his pettiness and narrowness behind illusions of strength and greatness, someone else's strength and greatness. He's proud of his great generals but not of himself. He admires an idea he has not had, not one he has had. The less he understands something, the more firmly he believes in it. And the better he understands an idea, the less he believes in it.”

-- Wilhelm Reich (1897-1957), medical doctor, psychoanalyst

I and my first boyfriend will get a mutual break up after 2 years as we will go for studying in different countries, and LDR is not an option, but I'm afraid I will always love and miss him and that thought is killing me. What shall I do?

You have both made a very mature choice. Now, you’re also about to learn from it. Be happy with the lesson, and the memories. It could be this works out for the best. You might both find that the long distance relationship, the LDR, is, in fact, an option both of you can deal with. Absence does, usually, make the heart grow fonder. Good luck, and strive to be happy always!

What is the most important thing in your life? How do you expect your life without it?

I’m going to come off like a smartass here, so I apologize. Happiness is the most important thing in my life and without it… well, obviously, life won’t be happy.

Is it a good idea to "come out" to my class?

Is it a good idea to live a lie? I suppose it depends on their age and how mature they are. Sooner or later the truth will win out, however. It might as well be on your terms. If not now, then when?

“Every single courageous act of coming out chips away at the curse of homophobia. Most importantly it's destroyed within yourself, and that act creates the potential for its destruction where it exists in friends, family, and society.”

-- Anthony Venn-Brown, author, evangelist

 What do humans need?

Humans need to breathe, drink, eat, and clothe themselves.

How can I best support a close friend whose parent is about to die?

Be there. Let them know you care but don’t suffocate them. Sometimes they’ll need to be alone, and you’ll need to recognize when.

Why are people treating me like a brat child when I am actually a woman and I can't move on my own to get a job or find a relationship because of the thing they do to me?

This is suffocation at it’s worst. As an adult, you need to be your own person. If you don’t like it, change it. Life is all about the choices and decisions we make. You need to start making better ones, for yourself. 

How does gratitude enhance your life?

We all have something to be thankful for and, usually, someone to thank. Being thankful is a selfless act that enhances others more than it enhances us. As for me, I think gratitude is a nice gesture that recognizes a nice gesture.

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), essayist, philosopher, poet

 

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with the United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as a chaplain at the regional medical center.