Posts by slymaker9

Tyler Diaz4 said:Support doesn't have to mean medication; it can come from someone who is trained to help.

The best kind of support is a solid friend who knows how to deal with it.🙂

Sam Hayes said:I just love this kind of thinking 😍

We forge our own luck or our own misfortune, so why wouldn't we choose to forge happiness?

Sam Hayes said:Honestly, I don't take any medication, and I really have no desire to start—I feel like it would just make me drift even further away from reality, which is the last thing I need 😁
I’ve been trying so hard to stay grounded and present, but it feels like an uphill battle lately... I suppose it’s common knowledge that for an average person to just function normally, you need a little bit of everything, and a sense of moderation in all things... but I can't help feeling this massive void in my life, and maybe I'm just trying to fill it with something else, which ends up leading to these cycles of excess... there's just no balance here, let alone any sense of moderation... I don't know, maybe I'm just overly sensitive, or perhaps I'm being selfish and only focusing on my own needs, or maybe I'm just way too obsessed with the tiny details—I honestly can't say for sure... I just know that I wasn't even like this back when I was a teenager 😬 and there's clearly too much of one thing and not enough of another, which is why I find myself in this state 👍

Everyone hits a low point eventually; it's impossible to avoid it entirely. 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdLo1GrGmbw

dustyskipper3 said:Yeah, I suppose I see it that way too... though, I guess it seems to me like your internal mental states might be coloring your perception of reality a bit too much... and do you ever find yourself reaching for some kind of medication just to tint the world "rosy"? I don't think that's quite right, because then you aren't really perceiving the world at all, you're just testing how much you can manipulate your own perception... there isn't really any way to verify the "truth" of how you see things. Personally, I think the world could be "black," but you could be happy, or the world could be objectively "pink," and you could still feel empty... it's just that, maybe, you spend too much time looking inward, so your internal state ends up reflecting onto everything outside. And yet, those internal feelings probably stem from external events anyway—if someone insults you, it throws you into a funk, or someone could cheer you up. So, I guess one should probably pay less attention to what others do to them, and try to focus more on objective reality to reach an objective conclusion... otherwise, you might always be like a "puppet on a string," just a plaything for fate or for people who have thicker skin and are a bit rougher than you are.

Human life is the ultimate prize. To hell with uncovering some "objective truth" if that truth ends up destroying the person who found it.
Perception should always have a slight rose tint to it—a kind of realistic optimism. We need to live with colors of hope.

Charles Howard said:Is there actually such a thing as a middle ground? Or have we simply reached a point where we’re finally self-aware enough—of ourselves and everyone else—to realize that the "middle" is just an illusion? 😢

Uncle Aristotle argued that virtue lies in finding the exact right measure of the right feeling.
I find this idea of moderation and avoiding extremes to be quite sound.

brisktiger56 said:👍

So, how does one actually practice EQ? How do you keep from overdoing it 😉?

Some people are clearly natural talents. I honestly don't envy them much. 😳
I'm still working on it; once I figure out how to find that sweet spot, I'll let you know.🙂

I'm not entirely certain, but I believe that's what they call maturity. 🤔

brisktiger56 said:but honestly, sometimes we just don't have the bandwidth for that kind of detachment 😉. Maybe wisdom is actually the secret sauce when it comes to "grounding yourself." Perhaps wisdom is what gives us that power in the first place...

I believe this boils down to a question of control—mastering one's own emotions—which is ultimately a matter of emotional intelligence.

brisktiger56 said:So, I ended up dropping 13 posts in that whole discussion.......
Lord help me, what a massive waste of my time and energy......

It hit me way too late that I actually HAVE THE POWER to just delete a thread from my subscription list and save myself from the madness... Which basically means... if we just take a second—you know, pull back and breathe—no matter how emotionally wound up we get, we can realize we have the agency to protect ourselves from the chaos of our surroundings, outside influences, and all that nonsense... including avoiding certain absolutely insane topics altogether...

Sometimes you just have to detach yourself from a situation to "activate" your own personal power.
There are moments when it’s enough to simply tell yourself: I did everything I could, the rest is out of my hands, and I refuse to let this get to me (because honestly, what difference does it make?). By refusing to spiral, you stop draining your own battery and giving others more leverage over you than they actually possess.
Do your part, trust others, trust life, and trust God.🙂

Here is an interesting read for anyone struggling with mood regulation.

Cultivating one's spiritual side can certainly enhance self-motivation and help with emotional regulation.

Along those same lines, here is some additional information regarding holistic wellness for both body and mind:

Sam Hayes said:I’m not really one for messing around with heavy chemistry or anything... honestly, the multivitamins I’ve been taking lately seem to be doing more than enough for me. I suppose I’m just quite sensitive in general—and if I had to pick the absolute worst part, it would have to be how much my moods tend to swing. I don't know how you all handle it, my fellow moody people, but I feel like I go through an entire spectrum of emotions in a single day—and it’s been that way for several years now. 😁 My family keeps telling me they’ve never met anyone quite as unpredictable as I am...

There you go, you finally have a thread tailored specifically to your interests.😉

I just want to say briefly that there are times when seeking medical help and taking medication for a set period—or even permanently—is absolutely necessary.
Hunger doesn't listen to reason, and because of that, people often mistake genuine mental health disorders for mere laziness.
Failing to seek professional help can be incredibly dangerous and allow a condition to spiral out of control.
While things like shifting your mindset, working on perception, self-encouragement, healthy eating, and exercise are all great, those are mostly helpful for people dealing with minor "issues" rather than those facing actual clinical problems. On the flip side, you definitely shouldn't medicate yourself without cause just because you had a bad couple of days.
Sometimes, a person simply cannot get out of bed without medication, and in those moments, medication is the only way to help. Once they have stabilized, they can then use various techniques to strengthen themselves and aid their own recovery.
Self-help is always a good tool, but it isn't always enough.
Naturally, one should try self-help first, but if you feel like you're sinking and nothing is working, you need to seek out whatever medical assistance and medication are available.
Modern antidepressants have almost no side effects and don't create dependency. Once someone is back on their feet, it is easy and painless to taper off them.
Because I have an inherently sensitive personality, I have been both on medication and off it whenever I didn't need it.
For many people, self-work is sufficient, but others will periodically or even permanently require medication to help them manage.
That’s my two cents.🙂

Here is the leaderboard showing who has posted the most on the thread regarding God and Hitler:
locutos 154
Father Peter 58
52 Valerija St, 79 42 Jopa, 36 Articles of Faith 52
Valerija79 42
Jopa_od 36
Articles of Faith 16
barba marin 15
brisktiger56 13
slymaker9 9

Consider this the evidence.

gentlehound15 said:slymaker9
What even is power?

Power is what happens when you’re losing an argument and simply run out of things to say.
Then, you and your little buddy—the moderator—just decide to put the whole topic under Lockdown.

That’s how you flex. That’s the real display of power.
slymaker9 and dustyskipper3. You two are quite the pair, aren't you? Like two peas in a pod. Honestly, you should just get married and have a dozen kids. Raise them without TVs, without video games, and definitely without electricity or running water.

That way, they might actually grow up to be "true believers," just like the both of you.

Yes, I would agree if that actually constituted power..

However, what you have presented here isn't a fact; it is merely your perception of facts, heavily colored by emotion. ☕

If you check the records, you will see that I personally wrote nine posts on your thread. They weren't aimed at chasing the specific point you raised, nor were they directed at arguing with you. Instead, they were intended to foster an understanding of believers—how they experience faith and God, and how significant those elements are in their lives.
Furthermore, dustyskipper3 contributed many posts to your thread as well; I will check the exact number and edit this post accordingly. He was indeed engaging with you and contributed significantly to ensuring the discussion didn't lean too far in one direction.
People generally enjoy debating various topics. The reality is that, unlike you, he introduced new perspectives to the conversation and kept it fresh, while you simply repeated the same points over and over.
As for me, since your thesis regarding a non-functioning brain had already crossed the line—and because I had wanted to respond very sharply at the time—I assumed
that others might feel the same way. That is why I suggested a Lockdown, to prevent others from getting caught up in the fray or facing bans. Personally, I am certain that others likely requested even harsher sanctions from the moderators, and I cannot say for sure whether the thread would have been locked if I hadn't sent a private message containing the same content I posted publicly. Perhaps it would have been, perhaps not.

The section I highlighted in your post illustrates exactly how you present your "arguments" in what you claim is a debate.
Honestly, these "debates" and "arguments" belong in a preschool.
In principle, they are nothing more than uncontrolled, aggressive emotional outbursts.

We face these accusations on a daily basis.

brisktiger56 said:It’s the total lack of agency 🙂. When people find themselves powerless, they reach out—they look for help in every sense of the word. Take here at our little community, for instance. A mother of five reached out recently. She’s trying to get them a computer because their school curriculum is all digital now, but they have zero way to practice at home. She’s stuck—completely unable to make it happen because she's just barely scraping by. Buying a PC isn't even an option right now.
Now, look at my side of things... I have some level of ability here. I have the means, the connections, and the knack for scavenging decent, slightly beat-up computers from others, fixing them up, and tuning them specifically for kids like these. I have power because I haven't let myself get bogged down by that typical mindset—you know the one: "Eh, let them struggle like I did," or "Not my problem," or "Who am I supposed to help everyone?"—there are plenty of people who think like that...

I have this capacity, and I’m using it to bolster the strength of those who don't have it. These kids will grow up knowing how to navigate a computer, which is basically the baseline for survival nowadays. That gives them power later on, simply because someone stepped in when it mattered.

It’s been the fundamental setup since day one: a newborn without a mother or someone to feed them is just... gone. If the mother is healthy after birth, she has the power, while the infant is just a crying, helpless thing that can't sustain itself. It’s pure powerlessness.

p.s. does anyone else have the capacity to help? All I'm missing for this rig is a USB or a PlayStation 2 mouse 🙂 If you have one lying around gathering dust... please, help a kid out...

Even crying and seeking assistance is, in a way, an expression of a specific kind of power. A baby uses crying to command attention toward itself and its needs, much like an adult using words to ask for help. In doing so, they exercise power by taking action, while simultaneously expressing hope or faith in a mother, in people, in society, or in anyone who might hear them and step in.

To me, true helplessness would be something else entirely—a total paralysis or an inability within a person, or caused by external factors, to satisfy a need, a desire, or a goal, whether independently or through any other means.

irongardener18 said:Power is an interesting thing; we all have it, but the real question is whether it's smart to use it every single time. I wouldn't trade my current life for a massive metropolis. Back when I actually had the drive and the means to move, my gut told me it wasn't the right move. I didn't have anyone to back me up (my brother was still just a kid 😢) and my intuition told me I'd just be struggling to get by in a huge city. Honestly, I'm glad I didn't push it then, because now I can head into the big city whenever I feel like it—whether it's shopping with friends or catching a concert with my partner. If I had moved, I'd probably be stuck coming back to this small town just to ask my sponsors for help.

Look at them—they used their "power" without thinking and ended up missing out on the beach entirely...
In short, if your intuition tells you a move isn't wise, it usually isn't. It sounds like you had the option to choose where to live, but you didn't have the actual, overwhelming power required to truly establish yourself and maintain a high quality of life in a major city.

I'm not sure which "big city" we're talking about, but if we're referring to New York City, there's nothing fun about paying a bill sent to you by Berkshire Hathaway, especially with how high the local taxes are 👎😠

Misusing power is the root of many problems.

Lisa Hernandez3 said:Stella, I think this topic is fantastic, and I really enjoyed participating in it. I definitely plan on contributing more in the future—I just need to find the time, especially since I've met some really interesting people here. We could move it back to Philosophy ☕, but I actually like it right where it is. 😍 I hope you'll drop by the thread again soon; after all, it's your topic.

Thank you for reaching out here and for your contributions to the discussion.🙂
The conversation in Psychology is evolving beautifully, and the topic feels much more at home there. It’s better to leave it in Psychology rather than moving it again and risking losing participants.
Essentially, the theme has transitioned perfectly from statelessness to cosmopolitanism.😍
Besides, home is wherever you feel welcome, not just where you were born. 🙂
I'll certainly be back. We can keep chatting, though I hope we'll do it in Psychology rather than on N/A.🙂

Based on what’s been said, I believe the best responses are:

dustyskipper3 said:True power is essentially 'inner peace,' having self-control, or perhaps just the ability to master one's own selfishness and those more primitive, animalistic impulses we all carry within us.

Winning against other people makes you strong; however, the one who conquers themselves is what I would call truly powerful. (Lao-tzu)🧐

It’s similar to what Zachary Cook2 mentioned regarding spiritual 'black magic' being a way to 'conquer' others, whereas spiritual 'white magic' is about mastering oneself—it's how you defeat those who lash out at others simply because they lack the capacity to control their own negativity and ego.

Nathan Perez5 said:👍...but real power is actually having the ability to act on that whenever possible, because that inner voice telling us what's right in any given moment is always screaming inside us, provided we actually have enough strength to silence all the other noise and distractions just so we can finally hear it...

brisktiger56 said:👍

Power is a lot like money—you can use it for good, or you can absolutely wreck things with it if you aren't careful...

Nathan Cook4 said:Spiritual strength is essentially freedom—the refusal to let anything possess you. No matter what life throws your way, you maintain your power simply by remaining true to your authentic self.
The difficulty, of course, lies in the fact that none of us are without our flaws.

Quincy:

brisktiger56 As specified by brisktiger56: Power plays a decisive role here, because it is only through power that we can direct our lives exactly where we want them to go. If we lack the capacity to make our own choices, then everything is hopeless. However, if from a young age we are taught how to stand up against insults at school or how to effectively steer clear of the wrong crowd, then we are truly fortunate. Of course, It is never too late to uncover the untapped potential within us; that power resides entirely inside our own being. Whether we actually recognize it, or possess the courage to wield it, is a much more complicated question altogether.

Riding the wind, I continue my dance😍

Voice of the people:

Ultimately, this is a matter of Philosophy. It will continue to evolve along those lines regardless of which subforum it ends up in. 😍

William Gonzalez3 said:Bringing this topic up in Philosophy was a mistake. The purpose of the Philosophy subforum isn't to debate how we judge whether a life is a success or a failure; rather, it's to discuss why we engage in those very pursuits—essentially, why we live at all.
Philosophy focuses on the root causes, so by addressing that fundamental question, you would naturally find the answer to your question regarding the "trunk" (how society evaluates others' lives).
The concept of a life being "wasted" is better suited for Social Sciences or Psychology, which is why I moved the thread there.

What I have highlighted in bold is not up for debate.
It’s not an error; the topic fits within Psychology quite well, and the discussion is more active there anyway. However, I will take this opportunity to remind you that induction is a valid logical method. Through induction—especially when combined with analysis and synthesis via the trunk—one can uncover just about anything regarding the roots.