Questioning Pooh, Goals, Guilt, Humility, and Fear

 

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart, I'll be there forever."

-- Winnie the Pooh

What does the quote "If you live to be a 100, I want to live to be a 100 minus one day so I never have to live without you" of Winnie the pooh mean?

It means he loves his friend so much he will sacrifice one day so he never has to be alone without them. It is a selfish sentiment, however, since his friend now has to live the rest of their life without Pooh.

Can you still be happy even though you’re unlucky?

Yes, but you really have to stop relying on luck. Life is all about the choices and decisions you make, not about being lucky. Where “luck” is concerned, the “house” usually wins. The reason casinos are so wealthy is they make weak-minded people believe in “luck” instead of skill. It is the reason there are so many machines and so few table games. They didn’t call the machines “one-armed bandits” because they gave away money.

As friends, can you be romantically interested in each other?

Yeah, the “romance” makes you a little bit more than just friends. Friends with benefits.

In order to be a perfect creature, is being pure and good-hearted required, or is being the most powerful, strongest, and most of all omniscient required?

There is no such thing as a “perfect” creature. But, being excellent depends on the creature. Is it a lamb or a lion? Is it an excellent killing machine, or is it an excellent fertilizer producer?

Young people still don't find their destinies. Why? What are the obstacles that might be faced by teenagers?

First of all, if you don’t find your destiny, that is your destiny. Your destiny is about what you make of it, not about the obstacles in your way. Obstacles are simply learning opportunities life presents us, and the obstacles differ depending on the path you’ve chosen. If young people don’t think they’ve found the destiny they are looking for, they don’t have to accept the destiny they have. They are free to choose another path. But, the reality is, destiny is where they’ve been, where they are, and where they are going to be. They can sit down or move forward. Deal with what they have, or strive for more. It is the path they freely choose.

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

How can using ChatGPT help with making informed decisions in life?

God forbid, you lose ChatGPT. What will you do? You’ll have to work at being informed. The horror of it all. Life might change for the better. Uh oh! Is ChatGPT another crutch we can blame our life on? Better to muscle through what it really takes for you to make informed decisions. They won’t all be right, at first, but you’ll learn to make good choices and decisions by trial and error.

What is your Goal?

Continued true happiness always and in all things, regardless of my circumstances. This will be the only true success in life. 

As a result of growing up in poverty, big rooms and open spaces suffocate me. I have worked hard to be in my position today. How can I deal with this?

It is a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I can’t sit with my back to the door due to my time in the military. I have to sit in the back of the cafe, know where the exits are, and order a carafe of coffee. For all intents and purposes, I’m Jack Reacher. The character and I have the same issues for differing reasons. It takes work to get past your feelings. Force yourself to sit in big rooms. Sooner or later you won’t mind them so much. I can now sit with my back to the door, although I catch myself checking reflections in the glass occasionally, so no one sneaks up on me, but, I really don’t mind sitting wherever. If you need help with this, you should look for a PTSD group to share with. 

Is she interested in me or am I being delusional?

Have you asked her out, and did she say yes?

How can you change your personal values, especially if you have reached age 30, because mine seem to stick like super glue?

Is there something wrong with your current values? It seems your subconscious doesn’t like the fact you want to change them. A good moral code of personal values shouldn’t need to be changed. It can be tweaked to make it better, but never sacrifice good for less than. At age 30, it sounds like some of the questionable traits you have don’t want to let go. At age 30, your mind seems like it wants to mature. Change is the only true constant in the universe. Embrace it.

"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change.”

-- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

How do you get to a point where it is as real as it gets?

Russian Roulette.

Is there a difference when someone says “I don’t want to do this vs I don’t do this? I take it as they still do it, even if they don’t want to?

They prefer not to do it, or they simply don’t do it. “I don’t want to go to bed with many women, but if you twist my arm, I will, reluctantly, cave in.” Or, “As a person of deep religious faith, I don’t do this unless we’re married.” The difference is, one will be constantly lucky with a variety of women, and the other one won't. 

What is the point of feeling guilty?

To remind you that what you did was wrong.

How can people who don't know how to handle failure in their lives get through them, as well as grow from them?

They understand that failure is the best way we can learn. It isn’t that you failed, it’s what you do with the failure that moves you forward and allows you to grow.

If there's one quote that you would share, what that might be?

Try this:

"It is what it is until it isn’t, and then it is what it is... again.”

-- F.A. Villari

Can you give some examples of good and bad conduct?

Bad conduct is burning your town down to protest. Good conduct is protecting your neighborhood from being burned down by clueless protestors.

What are the signs that a person is quiet and humble?

Their ego is tempered by their silence. No bragging.

Do humble and confident people exist? If so, how do they manage to balance both of these traits?

I’m having a problem seeing myself as not confidently humble. I am nothing if I’m not confident that I am humble to a fault. And, I say this with all humility.

Why do all "time travelers" wish to go to the past and not to the future?

Fear of the unknown?

Creatively, you must choose, loyalty to the human race or submission to another entity. Loyalty brings you lacking, and deprivation. Submission comfort and ease. Resistance brings suffering. What do you choose?

I submit my freedom to no one. Loyalty doesn’t come cheap. "Submission" has never been about comfort and ease.

“Give me liberty, or give me death!”

-- Patrick Henry

Can somebody offer an explanation for the quote "You’ll break your own heart if you fall in love with ideas and not people." by Bridgett Devoue?

Ideas change more than people do. And, if we love people, we are willing to deal with some change. Not so, with many ideas.

What fear stops you from success?

Happiness makes my life successful. Fear, however, can stop me from attaining a goal. I try to remember that failure is simply life presenting me with an opportunity to excel. 

Have you acted on the things that you want to change?

Yes, although it wasn’t much. I got a divorce 23 years ago, and have been ecstatically happy ever since. 

To what degree is the modern school system a scam and why?

In the United States, for the most part, they are only indoctrination into socialism. They seem to teach nothing of real value to life, like reading, math, science, writing, and real history.

What are your thoughts on the idea that the more you know about yourself, the more humble and respectful you will be toward others?

Absolutely. You can’t respect others until you respect yourself, and you can’t respect what you don’t know. I say this in all humility.

“Mutual respect outdistances aspersion.”

-- Lorin Morgan-Richards

 

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. 

I fervently 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, finally, a senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world-renowned, Western 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 volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony: tolerantpastor@gmail.com