Posts by silverranger14

Donna White50 said:Nah, you can't go around doubting yourself like that—not ever. And man, especially don't go thinking poorly of yourself in front of other people... just don't...
It feels like most people just spend all their energy pointing fingers at everyone else—it’s way too easy to blame others... but you really gotta take that time to look inward once you get home. Like, when you finally clock out from work, give yourself some space to actually sit with it and process everything that went sideways during the day...
Look, this job is a total shark tank—you just have to prove you can hold your own at the very least, and if you’re actually looking to climb the ladder, you gotta show everyone else is beneath you... It basically boils down to constant hustle—showing interest, dropping smart solutions, being the one who pushes everyone to act and create, and keeping the team vibes high. But yeah, you also gotta be smart enough to cover your tracks when you mess up, or better yet, just spread the blame around so it doesn't stick to you. You gotta play the game with the bosses and partners, too—smooth talk your way into their good graces while quietly stepping over anyone trying to compete with you. Once you walk through those office doors, honestly? Just leave the whole "collegiality and morals" thing at home. That stuff is for fairy tales... real life—especially the corporate grind—is a whole different beast...
Look, if you trip up even once, people are just gonna be hovering, waiting for you to fall... It’s like your failure automatically drags down the whole scale, giving everyone else a free pass to climb over you. They get to shine by stepping on your mistakes—basically using your setbacks as their own stepping stones. Like, if Mark is a shaky, insecure employee and someone can pin his errors on him, then John—who might be just as bad—suddenly looks like a superstar by comparison. John isn't the one getting canned first; it'll be Mark, because he basically turned himself into the office scapegoat...😉

You seriously think insecurity just magically turns someone into a seasoned narcissist? In what universe? How certain are you that if someone follows your advice, they won't just end up as a total loser who ruins the team vibe and then gets kicked to the curb?

Personally, I don't buy that you have a narcissist hiding inside you or that playing dirty is your style. I don't think there's an "instant fix" for you. It's going to take actual work on your character—setting precise short-term and long-term goals without getting distracted or wandering off track.
It's hard work. Something I started doing myself once, and honestly, it paid off big time.

My own insecurity was massive, caused by everything and anything (maybe yours is too, but let's stay on topic). But I see you building that "maker" mindset. Keep training that inner craftsman every day, and you'll come out stronger.

Kyle Vaughn8 said:Could you maybe break this down a bit more—without all the Fantasy? What's your take on that?

The good old kind of Fantasy. Like, "One day I'll swoop in with a genius solution, my boss will finally respect me, my coworkers will be in awe, and all those losers will eat their words."

That kind of Fantasy just kills your drive and common sense. You really need to lean into your "worker bee" side—your actual productivity—so that insecure inner child doesn't sabotage you.

Pretty sure there's a direct link between Fantasy, being childish, and feeling insecure.

Kyle Vaughn8 said:Well, it's the truth, isn't it?
Even if everyone else is secretly second-guessing themselves too...
they just don't let it show.

Stop watering down your expertise with all this unnecessary overthinking and "feelings"—just show some edge.

Man, that was a hell of a lesson for me.
It's not just about projecting confidence to the world—even when you aren't feeling it—
it's also about how people try to actively undermine others' confidence just to make themselves look better.☕

Don't twist my words. Trying to undermine people won't get you anywhere.

Just think clearly and act on it—no ego trips. Respecting your teammates is huge in any group.

Kyle Vaughn8 said:I remember reading somewhere in some old philosophy journal that doubt is actually a sign of wisdom...

I’m constantly doubting things—mostly myself, honestly 🙈—but I guess people just take me for a fool because of it

Actually, not just a fool, but a total idiot 🙂

Why is it that people who act the most arrogant are always the ones who think they're the smartest? 🤷

The kind of doubt they mean is critical thinking—that's the wisdom part. Not second-guessing yourself. It's about using doubt to clear away the nonsense and being willing to change your mind when the facts prove you wrong.

Your colleagues aren't wrong; why would anyone trust someone who sounds unsure of what they're saying?

Don't dilute your expertise with all this unnecessary overthinking. Just show them you know your stuff.

Stop wandering off and just get shit done.

Honestly, I think you’re way smarter than most people realize. It feels like even those close to you might be throwing shade just to keep you from outshining them. They want to crush that confidence of yours.

The stuff you know—it probably intimidates people. Stop playing defense. Start reading them, stay ahead of the curve, and take control. Get out from behind that shield and actually run the game.

Don't just settle for proving you're good at what you do. That's too easy. Aim higher—grow as a person and shift the whole paradigm. Make it your own.

Maybe I misread the situation, but I can't help being drawn to this...

Losing someone close to you... it’s probably the most natural, gut-wrenching thing there is. Trying to rewire your whole life and find new priorities? It's brutal. Hang in there 🙂

John Baker said:It’s true. My father treated me like royalty. He absolutely adored me, and that hasn't changed.
Because of that, I notice women all the time who settle for partners they clearly don't respect or love; you can see it from a mile away.

There is a downside, though. I'm pretty egocentric. It’s rare for someone to actually be good enough for me, though I will say my exes were all high-quality people. We stayed on great terms because they were solid individuals.
To answer the prompt: I have zero interest in "problematic" characters who need saving. There is no future in that.

Simply put: you attract what you radiate. I was raised to believe I deserve nothing but the best, and honestly, I've never had a single issue attracting idiots.

Now I'm wondering what kind of dad I'll be if I miss something in my own upbringing... no matter how I look at it, I'll probably mess up. But hey, at least I'll enjoy life with my daughter if I treat her like a princess. I'll be the bad guy regardless.🙂

Paul Thompson3 said:So, this is exactly what the OP is getting at. Are we saying if someone is a teenager, their opinion doesn't matter? That they need to be "taken down a notch" because of their age—as if that actually changes anything? It feels like a systematic way to crush any attempt at building a healthier, happier society. Most adults just end up being losers who folded to a system designed to favor the worst among us. The kid called the emperor naked because, honestly, a teenager hasn't been spiritually broken by the world yet—they still see things for what they really are. 😉 And your response would be, "Quiet, kid, you don't know anything."
Teenagers still have that raw, childhood honesty left—they spot something, and their brains actually work.

That’s why being a teenager was such a grueling era for most of us—it's that specific window where the world starts trying to break you, and everything good left in us fights back against it.

Look, please don't put words in my mouth.
They'll get those answers through life, not on some forum. Instead of telling the veterans to talk trash, maybe focus on him—he's the future, and he can't exactly match how much we older folks messed everything up. Our society is a total wreck, and I honestly hope today's teens do a better job than my generation did. We completely missed the mark on actually making things better.

I honestly think there’s a huge role played by how a woman relates to her father while she's growing up. A lot of times, the flaws her dad had show up again in her partners. It’s like she’s subconsciously trying to fix him through them—trying to rewrite her childhood story so it finally gets that happy ending she always wanted.

But obviously, that's not how life works. So, she just ends up stuck in miserable relationships or a total wreck of a marriage.

briskranger5 said:I’ve spent plenty of time posting and reading threads here that touch on the breakdown of trust, betrayal, and pure emptiness...

What fascinates me more and more every single day—even if I realize people have to play by these shallow rules just to survive—is how effortlessly people toss words and sentences around. There is this terrifying ease with which people respond without a shred of empathy.

Let me break it down for you in two points:

1.) So many people—and let's be honest, maybe all of us—talk about others with such reckless abandon, yet they lack the self-awareness to talk about themselves.

2.) There is a profound hollowness in modern communication. Everything has become a performance of nodding and smiling. People offer responses without having any clue what you’re actually saying, what you’re talking about, or how you even feel. They just want to say *something* back, even if they haven't given a single thought to the substance.

Does this entire culture teach us to stop fighting an uphill battle? Does it tell the small minority who actually care to just give up and become soulless shells ourselves, perhaps limiting our humanity strictly to our immediate families?

Tinder 🙂