Posts by Anonymous

brisktiger56 said:So, does that mean fear just chips away at power, or does it kill it entirely?

I promised I’d weigh in on this one.
Fear can definitely sap your strength if you let it take over the very thing you're afraid of. But it doesn't have to. You build power through every right decision and every principled action you take—and you can absolutely do that even when you're feeling terrified.
The real kicker isn't whether we feel fear, but whether we let fear be the thing that drives our decisions and actions.

Do I get a tracking number when I ship this, just like with a package? So, you're saying what I sent was actually registered mail? I specifically told her I wanted to send it as a standard package, but she just shoved it into one of those big padded envelopes and charged me $6.75 instead.

Hey,
I haven't used the mail service very often, but whenever I have, it ended up costing me $6.75.. and everyone keeps telling me that $5.00 is the absolute limit. It’s not just about those $1.75, but it really adds up over time.. so I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong. 😢 Basically, whatever I send, I just put in a bag and seal it tight, then at the Post Office, they slide it into a protective envelope, give me a white form to fill out, and that's it.. 🤷

Thanks!

brisktiger56 said:So, does that mean fear just chips away at power, or does it kill it entirely?

That’s a really fascinating question. I need to sit with that for a bit. In any case, it certainly can, though I'm not sure if it always has to. I'll post my thoughts on this later tonight.

How do you keep from throwing away your own power?

You have to hold more sway than the person trying to pull your strings.

Let's take a step back for a second. Craving power isn't actually a sign of strength. That kind of desperation might work on people who are weak, but it won't touch someone truly powerful.
Basically, if you’re desperate to influence someone—or what we usually call "manipulating" them—that very desire is what drains your leverage.
If you want to protect your autonomy from someone trying to force their will on you, you just need to be less afraid.

Test

brisktiger56 said:Not bad at all!

Potential—that intangible, almost ghostly thing...

It can show up in the physical realm or take a more spiritual route.

Physical power > say, having the strength to pick up a glass and grab a drink.
Spiritual power > like actually swallowing your pride and being able to listen to someone else's take.

Personally, I’d look at it this way: physical strength is just a byproduct of spiritual strength. It’s nowhere near as "powerful" or meaningful as we usually think it is.
Real spiritual power is vastly more significant, but it tends to be subtle. A few people might catch a glimpse of it, but most don't even bother looking.
Physical power is just much flashier and easier to get hooked on.

brisktiger56 said:I sketched out about three different ways to look at this so everyone can pick their own flavor... Regardless of how you slice it, power shows up through action, sure, but it also shows up through intentional inaction. I mean, an individual's freedom to choose whether or not to step in is its own kind of manifestation of power, isn't it?

If we’re looking at it from a religious angle: thought, word, deed, or omission > it all boils down to some form of "activity" that impacts someone or something somewhere.

I’d keep it simpler. Power is just pure potential. A manifestation might reflect that power, but it doesn't necessarily have to.

It doesn't necessarily have to be an active effect; like you pointed out, it could just be a possibility

.

crimsontinker7 said:Take a look at what they're teaching kids over in Iraq http://www.truthtube.tv/play.php?vid=2008

😲 Oh man, I have to admit, this actually shocked me a little bit... I honestly don't know how you're going to try to explain this away in any kind of rational or normal way.

Nancy Harris6 said:I really appreciate how you're looking at this! 👍

I find myself agreeing with just about everything you've posted in this thread...

@ Nathan Cook4 - hey there!

I can't claim credit for how unique that description was. I'm just here reading, listening, pulling it all together, and then meditating on it. I'm just searching for answers from "Him."

A Seattle Sounders FC player is heading out on loan to Columbus, but there's even bigger news: 19-year-old Zvonak Pamić is set to join the Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen for the next five years!
Looks like we're losing another absolute gem...

@wanderinggull35 - just because nobody noticed you doesn't mean we aren't paying attention. And don't sweat this debate too much; in any argument, one side rises while the other falls—that's just how it goes. I don't see why you'd come crawling in here with an olive branch trying to play peacemaker right now.
Don't worry about this thread; there’s no actual fight brewing here. There is a massive difference between a heated debate and an all-out brawl 👍

Regarding the subject at hand, it’s strange to talk about people and their drive to hurt others or things. When it comes to stuff like that, I don't think we can ever truly know what "snaps" in someone's head, whether it leads them to kick a kitten or do something even more twisted to a pet.

The people who want to "crucify" those types of individuals are just proof that their reaction against the perpetrator isn't much different from the crime itself. When people think they're right—when they believe they're fighting for a righteous cause or standing against evil—they are capable of committing acts far worse than the original crime.

In my opinion, these killers (whether targeting humans or animals) are sick; there is something fundamentally broken in them. As someone with a conscience, I have to ask: how could anyone find satisfaction in something like that? That's why I believe these people need professional psychological help.

The fact that people are capable of such horrors today goes against everything in the laws of nature!

@ placidjackal36 I agree that there are people who possess a moral compass without needing a Bible or societal laws to guide them. The only examples that come to mind are indigenous tribes living outside modern civilization, though even among them, you see horrific crimes committed due to misguided beliefs, like ritual sacrifices.

Whether we like it or not, from the very beginning, we are subconsciously conditioned by certain rules that we feel compelled to follow.

I agree with you that a conscious, moral person shouldn't need formal laws to
hold the conviction that murder and crime are wrong.
But you also have to consider that reaching that level of maturity and conscience requires experience and the time spent growing up within a society, where we learn these lessons.
I think how someone develops within society and whether they eventually turn to crime varies from person to person... but that kind of psychological analysis is a whole different conversation 👍

Brandon Kelly6 said:But couldn't someone have power simply because of the position they hold within your "order"? huh?

The kind of power we talk about in politics is one thing, but what we're discussing here is different. This is intrinsic power.

wanderinggull35 said:🙂

You just don't get it... fine, I'll play along with your logic if it makes you feel better.👍

Man, that was a pretty polite way of saying "you're wrong!"
I can't tell if you're just too lazy to explain yourself or if you're actually trying to flex how much "better" your perspective is than mine...

So, come on, walk me through it. Why on earth do you think absolutely everything posted on this forum needs to be overanalyzed to such an extreme degree based on just one single sentence?

Sometimes, words are just words. If we constantly dig for hidden meanings behind every little thing, we're just going to end up in endless, pointless arguments...

wanderinggull35 said:Are you, though?

First off, you're comparing yourself to a deity. I don't see God, but I know what the word means.

Putting yourself above a divinity... I guess that's the first sign of being an unhappy person.

You said something that doesn't even have a point. It won't help anyone else... it just helps you. You've basically put your ego above everything.

When people act like that, you can tell they're dissatisfied.

Second... you're being vulgar. Swearing is just another indicator of being miserable.

Third, you say, "lucky me!" That just shows how wrapped up you are in your own ego.

You want something. When someone is actually content, they don't need anything else in a material sense.

Don't take this personally. If you do... then my bad.

Man, you really took everything he said literally, didn't you?
What do you mean swearing is proof of dissatisfaction??? 😂😂 Where on earth did you get that idea? lol

If I were to say, "Screw you," would you immediately label me as the devil just because certain things are considered taboo?

You don't have to take every single thing posted on an online forum at face value. 🤦 👍

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.

And those vulnerabilities are exactly where we either gain or lose our edge.

So I took a look... and honestly, there are people out there who would literally want to gouge the eyes out of the guy who kicked that kitten...
I mean, what can you even say besides 🤦? Personally, I don't give a damn about posts like that. I’m actually surprised you reacted the way you did.

It’s not like these people are actually celebrating a crime or anything; most people just don't think before they type. Hell, you read some absolute garbage on internet forums all the time...

placidjackal36 said:How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? (That was a rhetorical question; if you need a definition for "rhetorical," go find a dictionary.)

Yeah, in case you weren't aware, there are plenty of people—and we're talking about the vast majority here—who don't commit crimes simply because they fear the consequences:

1. Consequences defined by a legal state (like losing your freedom or paying a massive fine)
2. Consequences defined by a holy book like the Bible or the Quran, where an invisible being threatens you with eternal burning beneath the Earth's lithosphere—basically, hell.

When government laws collapse—take periods of total anarchy caused by wars, for example—people act revoltingly. Most people start acting like animals.
A smaller segment might hold steady because of religion, but once they lose faith, they fall too.
An extremely tiny sliver of the population has enough actual character to keep them from committing atrocities.
Basically, people are nasty, and they need artificial boundaries because they almost always find some way to justify their worst impulses.

You'll learn it in school.

I keep forgetting how much information spreads online. 🤦

No, it wasn't the law or any holy books that stopped me (I'm not religious)—it was my conscience. I have impulses just like everyone else.

Aha, so it was your conscience that held you back!!!!!
See? You answered your own question. Where do you think that "conscience" even came from, my friend??
Did your conscience just drop out of a tree like a ripe peach??

No, your conscience exists because you literally can't bring yourself to commit a crime, because that's exactly how society and your environment conditioned you.

What makes you think that if you had been raised from birth to be a killer (just read a bit of history and you'll see plenty of examples), your "CONSCIENCE" would stop you from killing??

You have no right to judge people. You don't know what someone has been through. Being a "conscientious" person should mean helping those people, not condemning them—after all, weren't it those same "conscientious" types who introduced the electric chair??

Edit: Why do you think your moral limit isn't artificial??? It's not like some divine miracle placed a boundary on you the moment you were born...