Posts by Robert Chase51

So, they're actually showing up? I guess we'll see...

Thanks 🙂

Robert Chase51 said:Can I change my nickname to B.P.?

That wouldn't really work.
I can't just leave it as initials after the correction is made, so maybe try coming up with something else. 🙂

Big P. ?? 😁

Alright, fine, we can make that happen. 🙂 Just get in touch with New York City.

Can I change my nickname to B.P.?

That wouldn't really work.
I can't just leave it as initials after the correction is made, so maybe try coming up with something else. 🙂

I'm exhausted. 🙂

The main thing is just knowing I can wear it for longer periods now. 😉

Thanks....but I tend to sleep for pretty long stretches, so 😁

Well, thanks for getting back to me... I've heard some horror stories about women ending up in the hospital because they left a tampon in...😕

I mean, I think Tampax works great for me, but honestly, those hours really get under my skin. 😕 I can't help but worry about what might happen if one stays in for longer than three or four hours... it feels like such a tiny window of time, and I feel like I’m constantly checking my watch whenever I have one in 😕. That’s actually why I don't go the tampon route all the time; I just can't deal with the restriction if I'm out somewhere for a while without easy access to a restroom, or even when I'm trying to sleep. It’s incredibly distracting and makes it impossible to actually relax. On the flip side, pads just drive me absolutely crazy, especially during this kind of summer heat...

Is it actually going to cause some major issue if a tampon stays in for, say, five hours?

I couldn't seem to find this specific thread... so if there's already one covering this, please feel free to move this 😁 I was wondering if anyone might have an idea about what could be causing sweaty palms? It’s not like I’m feeling particularly anxious or anything, but my hands have been sweating for three days straight now, even when it isn't hot in here. 😕 It’s not like they're soaking wet or anything... just sort of damp... then suddenly they'll be dry... and then they're damp again. 🤷

Morgan Gonzalez56 said:What makes you think I've been ignoring my heart? 🤷

I didn't say that. I just meant that lately, I've been more inclined to follow my gut than my logic... maybe I phrased that poorly. 🤷

I guess we should start by looking at what was actually said here. It’s easy to get swept up in the emotion of these discussions, but if you step back and really analyze the substance, things look a bit different. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but I suspect there's more going on beneath the surface than most people are willing to admit. It feels like we're often just circling the same drain without ever touching the core issue. I don't know, perhaps I'm just getting old and tired of seeing the same patterns repeat themselves over and over again. Regardless, it's worth considering that the reality might be far more complicated than the simplified versions we see floating around online.

Susan Price30 said:Spot on.

It's just like how Jesus put it so beautifully:

'Whoever has been forgiven much loves much, but whoever has been forgiven little loves little.'

(in relation to God, to your neighbor, and to yourself)

🙏🙏

I’ve always felt that the people who actually manage to forgive are probably much happier in the long run. They seem to carry this sense of being full of love... though, I guess if we're being honest, that love doesn't always find its way back to them. It often just disappears into the void. But, maybe it all works out in the end. Everything eventually finds its level. 😉

Morgan Gonzalez56 said:I can't speak for your family, but my mind and my heart aren't at war. They aren't constantly competing with one another. It’s not like two toddlers trying to outshout each other; instead, they are mature aspects of myself working in perfect harmony to create a stable, balanced person—ME. 🙏

I don't really have any beef with anyone, honestly. I just tend to follow my heart more often than not—which is something I think people should probably do a lot more frequently. The world would be a much better place if they did, but hey, that’s just my two cents. Everyone sees things differently, I guess. 😉

Morgan Gonzalez56 said:A heart isn't everything that defines a person. Logic is what protects the heart.😉

But I guess if you're letting your heart run the show more than your head, then that doesn't really apply, does it? 🙂

I mean, seriously, how are you even able to be so bulletproof? It honestly feels like you just don't have a heart...🤷

I have to disagree with you on this one. Look, if we look at it from a different angle—this whole dynamic of perpetrator versus victim that you’re talking about... my first thought is that you're taking things to an extreme. Of course, nobody is going to just forget if they were assaulted or abused in some way. But honestly, why shouldn't I try to be the bigger person and forgive? Who am I to judge someone else, or to just carry around this blanket anger toward everyone and everything? It eats you alive. You forgive, and you move on... you don't just sit there letting it rot inside you. 😕

You called that kind of thing "slimy self-righteousness"... but why?

What exactly is so "sublime" about telling someone who essentially destroyed your life, "I forgive you"? Or even better, just forgiving them internally without saying a word.

To me, that feels a hell of a lot healthier than being the type of person who refuses to hold anyone accountable for anything. To me, that's what's actually unhealthy. It just feels like acting or being full of yourself.

Jerry King11 said:Every injustice forces us to remember. Forgetting would be an act of betrayal against those who suffered. The real challenge, however, isn't remembering—it's resisting the urge to settle the score. Revenge is a dead end; it kills any chance of a fresh start and keeps the perpetrator tethered to their crimes and the wreckage they left behind.

By choosing to forgive, we actually protect ourselves from the rot of hatred and the slow suicide of holding onto bitterness. It’s about mental survival. We forgive so our enemies don't get to finish us off spiritually; we refuse to let their toxicity become our identity. Forgiveness lets us turn our gaze toward something better and move away from the darkness. It provides a certain kind of spiritual freedom. You can't extinguish hate with more hate, and you can't erase an insult with another insult. Only forgiveness works. Our worst enemies are actually our own malice and inhumanity, and the only way out is through mutual forgiveness—accepting and granting it. Evil can only be defeated if we start forgiving one another. We can clear our consciences by finding peace, even if it's only in our hearts, while leaving the actual judgment of the enemy and their actions to God.

Of course, all this sounds like hollow rhetoric if we can't actually pull it off in the real world. It’s easy enough to overlook a petty slight, but there are some intentional evils out there that stay with you, making true forgiveness feel almost impossible no matter how hard you try.

What’s your take on this?

Here are a few quotes, though they certainly don't all agree:

"When someone hurts us deeply, we only truly recover once we have forgiven."
Alan Paton

"If you're going to strike a child, let it be in a fit of rage, even if it leaves them bruised. A cold, calculated blow is neither forgivable nor should it ever be."
George Bernard Shaw

"I hope the work of the Commission will open wounds just enough to clean them, preventing them from festering. We can't be superficial and pretend the past is buried, because it isn't; it follows us. True reconciliation is never cheap, because it's built on forgiveness, which is costly. And forgiveness depends on remorse, which relies on acknowledging wrongdoing and uncovering the truth. You cannot forgive what you do not know."
Desmond Tutu (From Tutu's speech upon his appointment as Chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on November 30, 1995)

"When I hate, I lose something of myself; when I love, I am enriched by what I love. Forgiveness is reclaiming lost property—misanthropy is just a slow form of suicide; egoism is the greatest misery a soul can endure."
Friedrich von Schiller

"Ultimately, I won't have a mother embrace the tormentor who ordered the dogs to tear her son apart! She must not forgive him! If she chooses to, let her forgive him for her own sake, to forgive the tormentor for the immense maternal suffering he caused. But she has no right to forgive the suffering of her torn child, and she shouldn't forgive the tormentor even if the child themselves were to offer it! If that is the case, and they cannot forgive, where is the harmony? Is there anyone in the whole world who could or should have the right to forgive?"
Fyodor Dostoevsky (The Brothers Karamazov)

"Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names."
John F. Kennedy

"He who forgives a crime becomes an accomplice to it."
Voltaire

This hits hard 🙏 I'm actually glad I stumbled upon a thread like this. Sometimes certain words can be a real wake-up call.

To be honest, looking at myself, I’d say I’m a good person. I always forgive... I always move on. But I can't quite bring myself to agree that I have a totally clear conscience or a completely free spirit...

I can't help but feel that when I forgive, my enemy somehow wins—like they managed to humiliate me all over again.

But then I catch myself thinking that maybe I really am a good person and that I deserve good things because I don't cause harm. Except, I suppose my enemy feels the exact same way about themselves....