The Meaning of Existence (Original)

[Sun Goddess]

Jennie McGrath

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Member # 2197

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   posted 05-22-2005 11:37 PM                       
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Have a good time, all the time!
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Posts: 730 | Registered: Nov 2004  |  IP: Logged 

[Sun Goddess]

Jennifer O'Dell

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Member # 2239

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   posted 05-23-2005 12:46 AM                       
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I suppose it would be, to survive!
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[Sun Goddess]

Sauron

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Member # 2514

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   posted 05-23-2005 12:57 AM                       
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To help one's fellow man. 

 

[Sun Goddess]

Vlad
Member
Member # 1187

  posted 05-23-2005 01:49 PM                   
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Jade,


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You came here with your own set of beliefs,
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Possible. Who says I 'believe'?


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and, apparently expected to enlighten others with them,
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Didn't expect.


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even though yourself have remained close minded to what anyone else has to say.
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Your opinion of me. I didn't know you could read my mind and know my heart.


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You aren’t open to new viewpoints, you’re as close-minded as you claim that Dawn or myself or Calvin are to them.
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Mss shrink, you missed the mark.


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It’s not about changing other’s viewpoints, Vlad, it isn’t about “who’ right and who’s wrong,” it’s about laying it all out there and actually discussing new ideas. You don’t discuss, you lecture and that is all.
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It does not mean because I do not reply or say anything that I do not consider what others wrote or their opinions or even possible opinions. I'm not a babbler type and 'discussing' is too time consuming. I guess it's a male thing not to be talkative   


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I’m getting the feeling from a lot of the posts I’ve seen here lately that a lot of you just, come here to fight with each other and exhange insults. Some of them have downright made me feel like I’m back in the third grade.
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Home sweet home?


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Well, even if you don’t like Calvin or some of the other people here you can still find a better way to make your points without talking about people’s genitals or sexual orientation. I think a lot of you seem to get more hung up on who the messenger is than what they are trying to say. Well, we don’t need that kind of crap in the forum. We don’t need someone censoring us either, but I like to believe that intelligent people can have an intelligent discussion.

Are we intelligent here? I leave it to each of you to best answer that question.

Many of you have made this personal and it should not be personal.
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You just talked like a politician. Lots of words to say nothing essential but just stuff most of us knew already.

[ 05-23-2005, 01:50 PM: Message edited by: Vlad ] 

[Sun Goddess]

Seekerofknowledge

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Member # 2439

Member Rated:
   posted 05-23-2005 07:08 PM                       
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Dawn, you sound like a very sweet and caring person, please stay that way the world would be a better place with more people like you in it.

Norman you on the other hand like a person full of hate and anger, just remember it is your "savior" who supposedly said "let he who is without sin cast the first stone"
Can it be that you lash out at the faults, or percieved faults of others because if you look into your own soul you won't like what you see?
Think about your own short comings first before you point out those of others. If you were a good christian like you claim you would be concerned about Dawn and her feelings instead of belittling and insulting her. I believe one of your commandments is "love thy neighbor" think on that Norman.


"the truth cannot told only found"

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"the truth cannot be told, only found"

[Sun Goddess]

Dawn Moline

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Member # 2173

Member Rated:
   posted 05-23-2005 08:22 PM                       
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Thank you for your kind words, Seeker of Knowledge, they mean a lot to me. From what I have seen of you, you are very kind, too.

Well, finally think I've gotten over my depression, and it is strange the way that it did.

I was standing on a busy street corner, waiting for the light to change so I could cross, and then I thought I heard a child crying. I looked out into the street and, to my horror, a little boy, no more than three years old had wandered out into the busy interection, crying. I was the only one who seemed to notice, everyone else was talking and laughing among themselves. I raced out into the street, grabbed him, pulled him back onto the corner again. We were almost hit by a car, luckily, we weren't, it was just pure luck that I managed to get him to safety again.

The little boy was crying, I hugged him. It was another beautiful sunny day, and all my world just seemed reflected in that innocent, tearful face. One of the onlookers told me that I should do a better job watching my children, another was even laughing, thought the whole thing was very funny that the boy was almost killed, the same sort of people everywhere.

Anyway, the little boy had lost him mommy, I kept him with me, even bought him an ice cream cone. I didn't want to drop him off at a police station, I felt responsible for him. I sat with him on a bench by a shop while he ate it, he liked it so much I bought him another.

Gradually, his real mother showed up and expressed her gratitude. She had been looking all over for him, had lost him while shopping. I told that her he had wandered out into the street and been nearly hit by a car. She cried and hugged him, most mothers do truly love their children. She asked how she could repay me. I said I wanted nothing, just doing it had helped me, too. And it was the truth, it had. She asked my name, I told her Dawn, and before she left, said to me, "thank God that there are still some people like you in this world."

I know it sounds corny, but hearing that, then thinking about it later was exactly what I needed to hear at that time, and, single-handely, it just seemed to lift me out of my depression. I went for a walk, went into some shops, bought myself an ice cream cone. The weather was beautiful, and, for the first time in two weeks, I managed to enjoy the day.

I am not a perfect person, and I am hardly a responsible one either half the time. I've disappointed a lot of men who have loved me and never gotten along with women that well. I don't feel half as smart as some of you here, and probably done less study than any of you on the topics we talk about here. I am a poor choice for a savior, I have a short attention span, often daydream a lot, and yes, too often am I ruled by my feelings. I do mean well, though, contrary to what people have said, and I genuinely do care for each of you.

Things happen for a reason, I am more sure of that now. Had I not seen the cat get killed in the same manner earlier, I might not have acted so quickly to save the little boy. Like Ishtar said, it's all about brightening your little corner, doing whatever you can for yourself and your surroundings. And, at least, this day, I managed to brighten mine. Of course, one never knows about tomorrow…

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"The unexamined life is one not worth leading."
-Plato
 

[Sun Goddess]

Jade Hellene

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Member # 2321

Member Rated:
   posted 05-23-2005 08:26 PM                       
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You just talked like a politician. Lots of words to say nothing essential but just stuff most of us knew already.
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Well, at least I said them, Vlad, somebody had to. You sure weren't about to say them.

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Sort through the media disinformation:
http://mediamatters.org/
 

[Sun Goddess]

Aristotle

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Member # 2244

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   posted 05-23-2005 08:39 PM                       
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Meaning well is half the battle, Dawn. I expected you to say during your story that a lot of us would have done the same. Well, a lot of us would have wanted to do the same. To actually do something like that, run out into traffic, save a little boy, one not only has to be alert, but have a heart that genuinely wants to do good, all the time. Consider, a moment or two's hesitation, and all would be lost. You saved a life, well done.

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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
- Aristotle

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Posts: 357 | From: ancient Athens | Registered: Nov 2004 

[Sun Goddess]

Norman Pounders

Member
Member # 2237

Rate Member   posted 05-23-2005 08:41 PM                       
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Dawn, if you email me, I suppose I can locate a psychiatrist for you to assist in your mental illness. I'm still looking for someone to help you with that sex addiction problem of yours, though.

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"The world is not divided into men and women. It's divided into great minds and small minds;

- Anassa

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Posts: 344 | Registered: Nov 2004   

[Sun Goddess]

Carolyn Silver

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Member # 2287

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   posted 05-23-2005 08:44 PM                       
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I don't feel half as smart as some of you here, and probably done less study than any of you on the topics we talk about here.
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I'll bet you haven't done less study than me! 
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Posts: 403 | Registered: Jan 2005   

[Sun Goddess]

Dawn Moline

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Member # 2173

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   posted 05-23-2005 08:51 PM                       
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The life I also saved was mine. And a lot of you would have done it. In fact, I'm sure a lot of you might have even given your own lives to save the little boy, like I would have.

I feel a little vindicated in my beliefs again, for now anyway. We have to have been put here to feel some connection with one another, to help one another. What other purpose could there be but that?

The only time I feel any clarity about things is when I do good. It's the only true purpose I have. I don't feel right in my relationships, each one only sort of feels temporary. I have yet to meet the man who will accept me for who I am and not try and change me. That kind of love, nice as it sometimes is, usually doesn't always feel right. This feels right.

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"The unexamined life is one not worth leading."
-Plato

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Posts: 446 | From: citizen of the world | Registered: Oct 2004 

[Sun Goddess]

Jennie McGrath

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Member # 2197

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   posted 05-23-2005 09:02 PM                       
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Aritoddler, doesn't Dawn helping the toddler sort of fly in the face of all you believe in about self-reliance? In your view shouldn't you have let the little guy just get creamed? Just thought I would throw that out there!
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Posts: 730 | Registered: Nov 2004   

[Sun Goddess]

Aristotle

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Member # 2244

Member Rated:
   posted 05-23-2005 09:10 PM                       
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No, Jennie.

However, Dawn, to really help others one has to teach them how to help themselves, those are my beliefs anyway. Of course, that doesn't apply to children.

[ 05-23-2005, 09:10 PM: Message edited by: Aristotle ]

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"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
- Aristotle

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Posts: 357 | From: ancient Athens | Registered: Nov 2004   

[Sun Goddess]

Jennifer O'Dell

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Member # 2239

Member Rated:
   posted 05-23-2005 09:13 PM                       
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Nice work, Dawn.

While this is probably a poor example, I think that this all sort of comes down to the whole "liberal vs. conservative" thing. In my way of thinking, liberals try to help people, while conservatives try to teach them to help themselves. While there is something to be said for the conservative philosophy, it doesn't take into account the poor and less fortunate who simply can't pull themselves up when they need to. Not everyone is born into the same circumstances or has the same opportinities. That is why social programs are needed to help them.
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Posts: 946 | Registered: Nov 2004   

[Sun Goddess]

Sauron

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Member # 2514

Member Rated:
   posted 05-23-2005 09:16 PM                       
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First, I love all your stories, Dawn. And yet, do you really believe what happened is a permanent solution to your problems? It would seem that they run deeper, and that there is something deeply sad in you. If you don't mind my saying, you seem a little too sensitive to exist in this world in the long run.
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Posts: 52 | From: Mordor | Registered: May 2005