Posts by rustymaker5

swiftcobra15 said:👍

I honestly don't think anyone was trying to make a point about gratitude, because if someone can actually provide a life for their family, they aren't exactly sitting there weighing whether or not their children will feel thankful for it later on...🙂

Man, you really went on a tear there, I have to hand it to you. You managed to touch on absolutely everything under the sun, didn't you?😁

It’s true that if you want to see any real change, you have to start by looking inward, whether that’s through changing your own ways or just trying to set a better example for others... because honestly, there isn't really any other way to make it work. A person has both the ability and the fundamental right to change nothing but themselves.

But I have to disagree with the idea that a Woman stays a child her whole life or treats everything like some kind of toy. If we’re being honest, that description sounds much more like something you'd say about a man. 😉

mistyfox812 said:My life? It’s precious to me, man. Seriously.

I mean, sure, I can be proud of certain things about myself—maybe my strength, looks, brains, education, guts, experience, or just having a solid moral compass and some deep insight... But all that stuff only matters if I actually *exist*. If I'm alive. Life comes before all those qualities, period.

And it’s not just me feeling this way—it’s everyone who’s breathing. We all value our lives. We all try (even if it’s just a little bit, every once in a while) to hang on to this life. It’s precious to us all.

I got my life from my parents. Plain and simple. Without them, there is no me. Without their physical connection, I wouldn't be here. Without my mom carrying me for nine months, I wouldn't exist.

I owe my whole life to my parents.

Even if they hadn't given me anything else after that (and honestly, they gave me way more than enough), I’d still be incredibly grateful for the single most valuable thing they provided: my existence as a human being. Because without that, I wouldn't have had anything else at all. It's hands down the greatest gift I could ever receive.

When you face a gift like that, all you can really do is say thank you.

And they received that same gift from their parents. And their parents before them. They could have done whatever they wanted with it—found ways to have fun, avoided hard work, or even questioned it. They could have asked "why?" Why bother being a parent under the circumstances of the USA, Nazi Germany, the Kingdom of America, the Austro-Canadian Empire, or under the Venetians, Turks, Byzantines, Romans, Illyrians, beyond the Carpathians, or in Persia? No matter if they were under rich rulers or poor ones, powerful or oppressed, sick or healthy, everyone had their own questionable perspectives (just like human perspectives always have been). Yet, they all passed that gift along—the gift they got from their own parents—passing it down, and down, and down, until it finally reached me.

If they hadn't passed it on, I wouldn't be here.

And honestly, I'm just glad to be here. 🙂 I hope you guys feel the same way. 😁

If the day ever comes where I get to give someone else a gift this precious... well, I know I'll be just as grateful for that gift too. 🙂

👍
Giving—gratitude—the act of giving—gratitude equals satisfaction equals happiness equals love 😘

Why would a man even want to be a father? It’s out of love! Love for oneself, for others, and just for the sake of living life itself... 🙂

mistyfox812 said:Biologically speaking, men have hands. Even though science proves you can live without one hand—or even get by using just one—most people find they need both. It's like having wings just so we can fly. Then there are our hormones and sex drives that make most guys want to stick their junk in a woman... and sometimes children happen. Why God made us this way, who knows. Biologically, kids are often just a byproduct of an intense drive for sex. That doesn't mean the kid was actually wanted, or that the guy actually wants to "be a father."

Being a father presumably means wanting to raise a child and teaching them how to survive. Most guys don't feel that urge at the start; they just stumble into it through sex and then realize it's actually kind of fun. Or maybe they see a helpless puppy and suddenly feel the urge, let alone a tiny human they're responsible for. Not everyone feels this way, though. Plenty of guys just walk away and dodge child support entirely. Some want to be fathers and some don't—some bail because they can't handle the chaos of a woman's pregnancy. Some end up being fathers to 2% of their kids, others to 35%, or more. What it actually means to be a father depends on how each man perceives life and human needs. Could you expand on this and explain what being a father meant for you?

😁
Wait, hold up, I didn't catch that... are we talking about sex or fatherhood here? 🤔
Wait, hold up, I didn't catch that... are we talking about sex or fatherhood here? 🤔
Wait, hold up, I didn't catch that... are we talking about sex or fatherhood here? 🤔
Sex is rarely that fun, and being a dad is always a massive grind! 🙄
Haha, well, it’s not exactly easy for him either... 😬

swiftcobra15 said:Biologically speaking, men have hands. Even though science proves you can live without one hand—or even get by using just one—most people find they need both. It's like having wings just so we can fly. Then there are our hormones and sex drives that make most guys want to stick their junk in a woman... and sometimes children happen. Why God made us this way, who knows. Biologically, kids are often just a byproduct of an intense drive for sex. That doesn't mean the kid was actually wanted, or that the guy actually wants to "be a father."

Being a father presumably means wanting to raise a child and teaching them how to survive. Most guys don't feel that urge at the start; they just stumble into it through sex and then realize it's actually kind of fun. Or maybe they see a helpless puppy and suddenly feel the urge, let alone a tiny human they're responsible for. Not everyone feels this way, though. Plenty of guys just walk away and dodge child support entirely. Some want to be fathers and some don't—some bail because they can't handle the chaos of a woman's pregnancy. Some end up being fathers to 2% of their kids, others to 35%, or more. What it actually means to be a father depends on how each man perceives life and human needs. Could you expand on this and explain what being a father meant for you?

Biologically speaking, men have hands. Even though science proves you can live without one hand—or even get by using just one—most people find they need both. It's like having wings just so we can fly. Then there are our hormones and sex drives that make most guys want to stick their junk in a woman... and sometimes children happen. Why God made us this way, who knows. Biologically, kids are often just a byproduct of an intense drive for sex. That doesn't mean the kid was actually wanted, or that the guy actually wants to "be a father."

Being a father presumably means wanting to raise a child and teaching them how to survive. Most guys don't feel that urge at the start; they just stumble into it through sex and then realize it's actually kind of fun. Or maybe they see a helpless puppy and suddenly feel the urge, let alone a tiny human they're responsible for. Not everyone feels this way, though. Plenty of guys just walk away and dodge child support entirely. Some want to be fathers and some don't—some bail because they can't handle the chaos of a woman's pregnancy. Some end up being fathers to 2% of their kids, others to 35%, or more. What it actually means to be a father depends on how each man perceives life and human needs. Could you expand on this and explain what being a father meant for you?

Biologically speaking, men have hands. Even though science proves you can live without one hand—or even get by using just one—most people find they need both. It's like having wings just so we can fly. Then there are our hormones and sex drives that make most guys want to stick their junk in a woman... and sometimes children happen. Why God made us this way, who knows. Biologically, kids are often just a byproduct of an intense drive for sex. That doesn't mean the kid was actually wanted, or that the guy actually wants to "be a father."

Being a father presumably means wanting to raise a child and teaching them how to survive. Most guys don't feel that urge at the start; they just stumble into it through sex and then realize it's actually kind of fun. Or maybe they see a helpless puppy and suddenly feel the urge, let alone a tiny human they're responsible for. Not everyone feels this way, though. Plenty of guys just walk away and dodge child support entirely. Some want to be fathers and some don't—some bail because they can't handle the chaos of a woman's pregnancy. Some end up being fathers to 2% of their kids, others to 35%, or more. What it actually means to be a father depends on how each man perceives life and human needs. Could you expand on this and explain what being a father meant for you?
Biologically speaking, men have hands. Even though science proves you can live without one hand—or even get by using just one—most people find they need both. It's like having wings just so we can fly. Then there are our hormones and sex drives that make most guys want to stick their junk in a woman... and sometimes children happen. Why God made us this way, who knows. Biologically, kids are often just a byproduct of an intense drive for sex. That doesn't mean the kid was actually wanted, or that the guy actually wants to "be a father."

Being a father presumably means wanting to raise a child and teaching them how to survive. Most guys don't feel that urge at the start; they just stumble into it through sex and then realize it's actually kind of fun. Or maybe they see a helpless puppy and suddenly feel the urge, let alone a tiny human they're responsible for. Not everyone feels this way, though. Plenty of guys just walk away and dodge child support entirely. Some want to be fathers and some don't—some bail because they can't handle the chaos of a woman's pregnancy. Some end up being fathers to 2% of their kids, others to 35%, or more. What it actually means to be a father depends on how each man perceives life and human needs. Could you expand on this and explain what being a father meant for you?
😁

Biologically speaking, men have hands. Even though science proves you can live without one hand—or even get by using just one—most people find they need both. It's like having wings just so we can fly. Then there are our hormones and sex drives that make most guys want to stick their junk in a woman... and sometimes children happen. Why God made us this way, who knows. Biologically, kids are often just a byproduct of an intense drive for sex. That doesn't mean the kid was actually wanted, or that the guy actually wants to "be a father."

Being a father presumably means wanting to raise a child and teaching them how to survive. Most guys don't feel that urge at the start; they just stumble into it through sex and then realize it's actually kind of fun. Or maybe they see a helpless puppy and suddenly feel the urge, let alone a tiny human they're responsible for. Not everyone feels this way, though. Plenty of guys just walk away and dodge child support entirely. Some want to be fathers and some don't—some bail because they can't handle the chaos of a woman's pregnancy. Some end up being fathers to 2% of their kids, others to 35%, or more. What it actually means to be a father depends on how each man perceives life and human needs. Could you expand on this and explain what being a father meant for you?
😁
Man, if only your parents had seen things that way...🙄

swiftcobra15 said:Quentin Tarantino

I honestly don't buy into this whole idea of "natural instincts," and I certainly don't believe that men and women share the same motivations when it comes to parenthood.
I’d really like to ask everyone to please speak from their own lived experiences and personal perspectives, rather than relying on collective prejudices.

Personally, I think that "natural instinct"—or just put simply, the fact that the drive to propagate the species is hardwired into the DNA of every living thing—doesn't actually distinguish between the sexes...

The differences only really start appearing once you drop them into a social context. For instance, throughout history, men have often—and many still do—longed specifically for a son to carry on the family line (think about royal dynasties, or even modern American entrepreneurs wanting a successor for their business empire, or farmers wanting to ensure the land stays with the firstborn, etc.)... It seems like for men, fatherhood, especially having a male heir, served primarily as proof of their existence, a way to ensure something remains after they're gone. A need for validation, maybe?
For women, I don't think that kind of external validation is the primary driver. Beyond the biological impulse toward motherhood, they don't feel this pressing need to manufacture an "heir" to a legacy, because by simply bringing a child into the world, they are already creating that legacy... which allows them to focus on offspring through other motivations, like the desire to nurture, raise, and love.
That would be my "objective" take on the matter, anyway...

As for my own experience, I can honestly say I don't see that kind of distinction between myself and my husband regarding our child. And as cliché as it sounds, our baby was simply the ultimate expression of our love, and we just wanted to bring a being into the world that we could love and care for. I don't think we were thinking about anything else back then, except for this tiny little baby who was the fruit of our love, someone we could give ourselves to wholeheartedly, watching them develop their own personality and just celebrating life alongside them...

swiftcobra15 said:I was actually inspired by a "women's topic" thread titled "What do you think about men?"
where most people just vent about bad fathers or offer nothing but pitying comments like, "poor things,"😁

Just to clear the air: I love kids (especially other people's 😁),
but that's not really a reason to want to be a parent myself.
There are more than enough children in this world already, and I don't see a personal need to have my own.

😕 You always have a way of leaving me scratching my head.

Why on earth would you try to turn something as straightforward and primal as the drive to have offspring into some grand philosophical debate? You just love overcomplicating things, don't you? Always trying to reinvent the wheel when the answer is right in front of us... 🙄

hollowbison12 said:I used to deal with nails that were incredibly thin, brittle, and just constantly splitting... they’d peel so badly I couldn't even grow them out past a tiny bit... then I stumbled upon this "miracle" strengthener Trident and my nails became so much stronger. I actually managed to grow them out almost an inch (!) without any cracking... that stuff is honestly phenomenal 👍

Anyway, you can find it at most local drugstores for about $23...

I think I might give this a shot. 👍

But there's something else that's been bothering me... whenever my nails grow out a little bit, they start curling downwards—almost like claws—specifically on my index, middle, and thumbs. My ring and pinky fingers stay perfectly normal, though... 😕What could be causing that?

Sandra Wilson68 said:rustymaker5:

Quinn:

We always start by staring at massive global crises instead of looking in the mirror, so everything looks way bleaker than it actually is.

When you look at the whole "give and take" dynamic, you can't just look at the individual; you have to look at society as a whole. Humans are social animals. Most of the time, we can't act exactly how we want because we're stuck following social norms, laws, moral codes, and traditions. This matters because if the way people interact in society regarding this "giving and receiving" isn't up to par, you can't just nag the individual to change their attitude toward society. You have to fix the entire system—change the laws, the norms, and the customs. It’s way more efficient to change the rules of the game so society shifts naturally, rather than demanding an individual fight against the grain of every law and social standard out there.

We've seen plenty of examples where trying to appeal to individuals to "be better" in hopes that society will eventually follow suit is a total waste of time. Take Christianity, for instance. They've been pushing the "love thy neighbor as thyself" mantra for two thousand years, and it hasn't done squat for individuals or for society. Why? Because for those two millennia, the legal systems and moral structures remained fundamentally opposed to Christ's command to love. We live in a world carved up by religion, nationality, ideology, borders, political parties, and class warfare—groups fighting to the death for territory and wealth. This struggle is forced upon us from the TOP DOWN by religious, state, political, and class power centers. These elites dictate the rules and punish anyone who doesn't play along. Essentially, Christ's command to "love your neighbor" is just a MASK used by the very people sowing division, hatred, and war to make themselves look righteous and honest while they prevent actual human connection.

So, my take is this: stop begging individuals to change. It's useless. Instead, aim your fire at the global political, national, religious, and class power centers. Demand they change their laws and moral systems—or better yet, let them die off. They are nothing but dangerous, useless baggage that has threatened the human race throughout all of history. We need to work on a global positive shift in how society functions. Once the system itself changes, the individuals within it will fall into line naturally without anyone having to lecture or force them.

But how on earth do you plan to flip the script on global society if you don't start by changing the very individuals who actually make up that society? To me, that sounds like trying to slap a roof on a house while expecting the foundation to just magically manifest itself underneath you...😕

swiftcobra15 said:I’d say (to be optimistic 😁 ) that there are some of us (though we're definitely a small minority)
who have grown beyond that infant stage.

It never bothers me when a shoe store puts out its latest collection,
but it really bothers me if they're displaying dead cats or live rats
or perhaps "perfect" shoes designed specifically for centipedes.😁

Have you ever actually stopped to wonder if the flow of your own thoughts is clear to anyone else, or if it's mostly just a coherent mess inside your own head? 😎

Keith Lee2 said:A newborn’s cry is basically just the sound of total helplessness—they can't take anything, they can only receive.
If they don't get what they need, they die.
I feel like a whole lifetime is just an attempt to fix that helplessness (that deep-seated fear of death)
by grabbing onto power.
There isn't a single person who doesn't hit that wall of raw vulnerability at some point—when all their
strength, their status, or their attempts to force the world to bend to them just fail.
That’s when the crying turns into a scream, screams turn to aggression, aggression becomes rage, rage leads to madness,
and madness ends in destruction, yet they still haven't gotten what they wanted.
The thing is, what they want can't be seized—it can only be given.
So they turn to prayer and beg to receive; just like a baby crying out
for its mother, driving her to respond, now they project that maternal image onto Quincy
expecting Him to fulfill those prayers unconditionally, just like a mother would.
Basically, receiving is what keeps life going.
But the problem is, people expect to just keep taking forever.
Giving has to be hardwired into us beneath the surface (subconsciously, instinctively),
kind of like a mother's instinct, altruism, or love.
Once someone realizes that receiving and giving are actually what cures that
fear of death, maybe they'll stop trying to grab, snatch, or force things.

P.S. Anyone posting here thinking it's "intrusive" is just mistaken.
We're just like shoes in a storefront window—people look, try them on, and then leave
if they don't fit or if they start rubbing the wrong way.

👍
Crystal clear.
Anyone claiming they had something shoved down their throat here clearly has some deep-seated personal issues to work through...😎 Even if they refuse to admit it to themselves. In this space, the basic laws of supply and demand might catch your interest, make you feel depressed, leave you totally indifferent, or spark a desire to argue back. If someone takes everything personally in a negative way, that's entirely on them as the consumer. 🙂

Quincy:

Louis I can't believe I'm even sitting here typing this out, but someone said... There’s no such thing as a fair exchange anymore, no real give and take... it’s just one endless, greedy grab for everything they can get...

So, that’s basically why I’m calling you with all this disappointment and pure pessimism... 🙂

We always start by fixating on these massive, sweeping global crises and systemic disasters instead of just looking at our own lives, which honestly just makes everything feel so much bleaker than it actually is...
It’s one of those questions that really makes you stop and think for a second, isn't it... like, do you actually get more satisfaction out of being the one pulling out the credit card and finding that perfect thing for someone else, or is there just something about that specific rush you get when you're the one unwrapping something meant just for you... I guess if I had to lean one way, I'd say I prefer giving, though I can't deny there's a certain warmth in receiving, but giving feels more intentional, more purposeful, whereas receiving can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming if you aren't prepared for it... anyway, what about you?

I know some folks who just... they really don't get it, you know? They just can't seem to wrap their heads around how things actually work out here in America... I don't know, I was just sitting here thinking about how things used to be... back when everything felt a bit more grounded, you know? It’s like we’re all just drifting through this constant noise without any real sense of direction... and sometimes I wonder if anyone else feels that weight, that strange, heavy pull of everything changing too fast... it’s hard to stay centered when the ground keeps shifting under your feet... anyway, I guess I’m just rambling now... People love to play this part where they claim giving is way more fulfilling than receiving, acting all high and mighty about their generosity, but if you look closely, it’s usually just a front... because deep down, they’re actually miserable when they don't get something back, feeling like total victims of everyone else's perceived indifference or neglect...

I know another breed of people entirely, you know, the kind who find it perfectly natural to just sit there and take, constantly receiving, even though the idea of actually giving anything back seems to be an impossible struggle for them... I honestly get the feeling they were raised by those folks I mentioned earlier. 😁

I guess I fall into that category of people who actually enjoy both giving and receiving... it’s just how I operate. I never end up feeling like some sort of victim because I don't view taking anything as if it were some kind of sin, nor do I look at giving as if it were some heavy, crushing obligation... For me, it’s really just a simple exchange of energy, you know? Like, I give something out just so that, maybe, something else entirely can flow back my way... 🙂

swiftcobra15 said:

I can get behind that part, really I can, but I’m definitely not buying what their opponents are selling—not at all, given how you laid it out there. 😛

Quote:

swiftcobra15 says: Giving and receiving are two sides of the same coin... you can't really have one without the other. The opposite of giving is imposing, and the opposite of receiving is taking by force.

Douglas Brown4 said:That’s what I have. In fact, many of you are actually reading and watching what we do.

Quinn:

They say birds of a feather flock together. 😉

I suppose that should be the case.

Quinn:

p.s. And what's wrong with hedonism? Doesn't everyone strive to feel better, to be happy and satisfied, and to enjoy life?

I forgot to mention "shallow." You always seem to nitpick my words, yet when I provide examples, you accuse me of gossiping.
I mean, look, sleeping with three guys and five girls at once isn't spirituality. Using drugs, smoking joints, and getting drunk isn't spirituality either.
What's wrong with that? Nothing, I guess. It's just not for me.
I forgot to mention "shallow." You always seem to nitpick my words, yet when I provide examples, you accuse me of gossiping.
I mean, look, sleeping with three guys and five girls at once isn't spirituality. Using drugs, smoking joints, and getting drunk isn't spirituality either.
What's wrong with that? Nothing, I guess. It's just not for me.
I forgot to mention "shallow." You always seem to nitpick my words, yet when I provide examples, you accuse me of gossiping.
I mean, look, sleeping with three guys and five girls at once isn't spirituality. Using drugs, smoking joints, and getting drunk isn't spirituality either.
What's wrong with that? Nothing, I guess. It's just not for me.

But that’s just not spirituality, plain and simple... who actually claims it is? 😕
I mean, nothing's missing for the people who live like that, I suppose... 🙄
It doesn't suit me, so I don't do it, period.😉

Douglas Brown4 said:I have met plenty of people. Fine. I'll grant you that they were all bad. Or rather, they were all parasites.
So, here is my follow-up: where am I supposed to find the good ones? The people for whom New Age isn't just an excuse for laziness, hedonism, or being a degenerate?

I honestly can't give you a roadmap for that... I have my own circle of friends, and believe it or not, we aren't all obsessed with New Age stuff. It doesn't bother us at all that we all hang out and have a good time together. You don't exactly go around forcing your philosophy down everyone's throat; you just live it out through your actions. Eventually, you cross paths with people who share your interests, you realize you actually enjoy their company, and suddenly it clicks that you're on the same wavelength. You just gravitate toward each other without having to hunt anyone down. And look, we all work, we all make a living, and sometimes we even collaborate on business ventures... 🙂
They say birds of a feather flock together, right? 😉

p.s.

And what’s so wrong with hedonism anyway? Isn't it true that every single person is just trying to make life better, to be happy, satisfied, and to actually enjoy being alive?

Douglas Brown4 said:Yes. That is how it’s stated on paper.
In reality, it mostly boils down to being irresponsible, smoking joints, and just existing without any drive to actually achieve or do anything. People fake meditating and working on their consciousness. It's bad music with shallow harmonies. It's making money by reading tea leaves and selling smoke. Laziness, hedonism, and plain stupidity.

It’s honestly a shame you’ve had such terrible experiences with New Age... assuming you’ve actually experienced it at all. Because everything you just listed sounds more like a critique of people who claim the label just because they think it makes them look cool. Every group has its parasites, after all. You don't blame the bread just because there's a few weevils in the grain...🙂

Daniel Chavez14 said:I'm not a fan of the first part (honestly, I don't subscribe to those views at all). But the second part? Definitely! 🙂

See, the whole thing boils down to the fact that we always have a choice in everything we do... we just pick whatever aligns with our own worldview, whatever makes us feel more fulfilled, more purposeful, more content... basically anything that doesn't drag us down into rigid dogmas, hopelessness, being closed-minded, or just plain old dissatisfaction.
Personally, I find myself leaning toward certain New Age ideas, but only as much as they actually feed my soul and help me live better with the people around me... 🙂

Daniel Chavez14 said:No, I'm just stirring the pot a bit to see if I can nudge someone (you, for instance) into offering a different—maybe even better?—definition.

It’s almost like looking at the mind, body, and soul as one big interconnected thing; sort of a cocktail of theosophy, environmentalism, Eastern mysticism, and Western materialism, all wrapped up in this idea that a new age of peace and harmony is right around the corner...
Like the belief that a person's destiny is a private matter between them and God, rather than something dictated by some authority in a cathedral? Or the idea that every individual needs to take full responsibility for everything happening in their life because everything is fundamentally linked? And learning how to truly love people, in a way that actually frees them from our own selfish expectations...
That isn't quite a definition, I suppose, but those are certainly some hallmarks of NAG. 🙂

Daniel Chavez14 said:Does anyone have a different take on what New Age actually means?
If not, I guess I’ll just have to settle for the definition provided by Douglas Brown4. 😉

I mean... you've gotta be kidding me, right? 😲