Posts by coastalwalker9

Well, thank you all. You’re right—I suppose I may have let my emotions get the better of me a bit too much. Honestly, I’m not quite ready to walk away myself. There is truly a wealth of intelligent people and engaging discussions here, and I genuinely enjoy my time on this forum.
I am dropping the plan and will endeavor to be a bit more prudent moving forward.
You have reminded me just how much I would miss this place if I actually left.👍🙂🙂

I appreciate you being so understanding and for all the support.
You make a fair point; perhaps once I finally manage to take a day off and give my brain a much-needed break, I’ll start seeing things from a different perspective.
Let's just get through this current madness first, and then we'll talk.👍

I appreciate the sentiment, though cutting ties feels a bit like severing an umbilical cord. That said, I don’t quite feel equipped to handle the social demands of this forum anymore, so it’s probably for the best if I step away like this.
It truly was a pleasure connecting and chatting with you all, and I want to thank everyone who made my time here so memorable.🙂

Please issue a permanent ban.
Thank you.

cosmicdriver42 said:I'm on the same page regarding your view of God; I'm also trying to tap into that energy or higher power, whatever you want to call it. That glue holding everything together. I haven't cracked the code yet, but I'm open to it. And yeah, I am depressed. I'm on antidepressants, and I'm currently waiting for my psychiatrist to get back from medical leave so she can adjust my morning prescription. I wouldn't say I'm sad or listless, per se, but I am dealing with depression. It's one of those modern versions where the symptoms are almost invisible on the surface, but they're definitely there...

🙂🙂
You sound remarkably positive and optimistic; I truly hope you can maintain that outlook, despite dealing with depression.🙂

David Vaughn75 said:I mean, I assume the Kingdom of Heaven has plenty of different activities and ways to serve too—it's not like we're going to spend all eternity staring at one single picture book, right?

Yes, I certainly hope that's the case. But one has to actually make it to paradise first. I struggle to wrap my head around this whole concept where, despite being a good person, sins are supposedly passed down through nine generations, effectively keeping the gates of heaven locked against you.
That is why I choose to rely on simplicity and faith, leaving it to God to decide who goes where and why.👍

cosmicdriver42 said:I understand your faith because I used to be exactly where you are. I believed that my actions were how I served God and practiced my faith. I felt He was with me at all times because my head was in the right place; I believed doing good and doing what was best for me was enough. I didn't feel the need to go to church just to prove anything when my actions spoke for themselves. However, I ended up taking it one step further and became an atheist. I don't believe in God, and I think people invented Him just to make living in this world a little easier. Heaven doesn't exist, unfortunately. I wish there were something beyond this life, but eventually, we all fall asleep and we won't wake up again—not in heaven, not in hell, nowhere. I know my perspective sounds depressing, but I’m just trying to enjoy this life without needing to compensate for it in the next...

I appreciate your candor.
While I wouldn't call myself an atheist, I also don't subscribe to the version of God presented by the Church or the way most people tend to visualize and experience Him.
My view isn't that God is a fabrication, but rather that He has been shaped by humans into a form that is easiest for us to imagine, accept, and comprehend.
I am certain there is a Someone and a Something—perhaps an energy, a force, or even something far more profound and entirely beyond our grasp—but that "God" has been given a name and a face so that people like us have something tangible to hold onto.

Are you depressed?
To my ears, you don't sound that way. You simply seem to be searching for answers, much like the rest of us. It’s a process of error, failure, hope, disappointment, and eventual resurgence.
But you are actively engaging with the question, and that matters.👍

Furthermore, I believe God resides within anyone who chooses to be kind, who lives such that they cause no harm to others, and who maintains self-respect while working on their own health and personal growth.

David Vaughn75 said:Look, serving God is just the default setting for any soul. Period. So, if you aren't feeling that urge to serve, it basically just means your true nature has been corrupted beyond recognition.

There are countless other ways to serve God. You can honor Him through your work, by singing while you labor, through sheer joy, through movement and sight, by helping others, or even within the bond of your family.
A million different avenues.
I see where you're coming from, but I suspect you aren't quite grasping my specific point.
For instance, when I’m working out, I offer my gratitude to God for the ability to train. I dedicate that entire session to Him—every movement I make and that sense of vitality I feel afterward. I do it so that I can "serve" by staying healthy and present for my family. After all, having healthy family members is a blessing and a source of happiness for everyone involved. And yet, none of it would be possible without Him.
That is just a tiny, symbolic glimpse into the vastness of what it means to serve God.
It’s a cycle that applies to everything you think, do, or desire.
Which is precisely why the vision of paradise I hold in my mind is so incredibly profound.

For anyone who lives by their faith, or even just holds it close to their heart, the concept of paradise has always been a significant preoccupation of mine.
Yet, in my own reflections, that place feels simultaneously beautiful and profoundly unsettling.
It is beautiful because there is a sense of profound peace in knowing you’ve earned your place—that through being a decent person and a faithful believer during your time on Earth, you’ve managed to join those rare few who deserve to experience the celestial purity and grace that heaven represents.

On the other hand, I have never quite been able to embrace the notion that eternity consists solely of kneeling, singing, and praying. The idea that this would be the singular purpose and definition of my forever...
It just doesn't quite sit right with me.
Of course, it makes perfect sense if one contemplates the sheer magnitude of God; when you truly grasp who He is, the question of whether one is even worthy of worshiping, singing to, or adoring the Almighty becomes overwhelming.
I recall reading in a children's Bible that those destined for heaven will spend eternity singing praises to God alongside the angels.
To be honest, I find it quite startling that God—however justified such an arrangement might be—would allow eternity to pass in what feels like a vacuum. Just constant adoration. A state where we know nothing else, see nothing else, and do nothing else.
It strikes me as strange that "our" God would act this way. The very same God who clearly took such immense joy in the act of creation, in labor, and in pushing humanity to reach its absolute peak potential.

Consequently, this vision of paradise creates a certain sort of mental turbulence for me. Or perhaps I am simply nowhere near the spiritual maturity required to truly inhabit heaven.
I don't know. There are just too many contradictions, too many questions, and too much reality for my small, slow processor to handle.
But then, there remains Hope.👍
The hope that I don't need to grasp or understand everything right now. That eventually, everything will be revealed, understood, and accepted when the time is right.
And who is to say there aren't different kinds of paradise? 🤔

Anyway, I should stop. Otherwise, I’ll just keep spiraling until I get a headache, and I doubt I'll reach any new conclusions.😁

I am 46 years old, and lately, I’ve noticed that my leg joints start aching quite significantly during my PMS window.
This has been going on for about half a year now. It has actually forced me to scale back my workouts, which has been a pretty difficult pill to swallow mentally.
For the past two months, I have been taking collagen powder; I read somewhere that you might feel some relief after just 7 days, but for me, nothing seems to change.
The older women I work with suggest that these issues are more closely tied to menopause, noting that they began experiencing similar bone and joint pains around that stage of life.

Are there any women here in a similar age group or situation who have successfully managed to resolve these issues?

Dana Watson said:Hello,
I recently underwent a procedure using a pill camera capsule—you know, the kind you swallow on an empty stomach to film everything internally.

- It turns out there is a massive amount of parasites in my small intestine near the kidney area.

Afterward, I went in for an X-ray, and the doctor provided me with this finding:
Kidney contours obscured by intestinal shadowing.

Intestinal shadowing = a mass of parasites.

For context, I spent a few months traveling through India, eating questionable food and such.

What should my next step be regarding hospital admission (and which hospital should I look for?)
because I am specifically requesting surgery to have the parasites physically removed.

I have all the documentation right here in front of me. What should I do? Who can I contact? Any help would be appreciated.

Surgical removal of parasites is merely a tiny fraction of the work required here; surely you realize that, don't you?
The eggs will remain scattered throughout your system for months, and you'll likely need at least half a year of antiparasitic treatments just to get things back under control.

I’m adding my voice to the requests here. In my view, Wikipedia is one of those rare users who doesn't go out of their way to offend anyone. They aren't aggressive, they aren't rude, and they don't attempt to disparage others either directly or through subtle jabs. They are one of the few people you can actually exchange ideas with in a pleasant, tension-free manner, knowing full well that the conversation will remain civil from start to finish.
If there was any chatting involved, it certainly didn't cause anyone harm or malice, which makes such a severe penalty feel entirely disproportionate.
It would be a genuine shame to penalize a long-standing, loyal, and—above all—positive member of this community, especially at a time when the boards seem to be overrun by vulgar, hostile, and completely inconsiderate individuals.