spinac Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 When things seem bad, how do you lift yourself by being grateful for what you have, rather than what's missing in life? Why do I ask? Well .... I was looking for a job, then I found a job, And Heaven knows I'm miserable now ... Yeah, I was out of work for some time. But I've had a job for 6 months now But then I've just done my budget ... and if I don't have a holiday for the next 15 years, and interest rates stay below 5%, then I'll have just paid off my mortgage before I retire (and my pension arrangements are naff). I have friends who have paid off their mortgages. One couple have bought a campervan and now work just 4 days a week. Another couple are looking at a second home in Spain and others already have their ski chalet in the Alps. They're all good friends, but financially I'm just not in their league. So yeah, it would be pretty easy to be miserable about life . Somehow or another though I manage to keep my head above the surface of depression (although I can be a grumpy get at times. One reason? Listening to TED talks. Here's one example http://www.ted.com/talks/charity_tilleman_dick_singing_after_a_double_lung_transplant.html When you hear other people's stories you realise that no matter how tough and crappy life may seem, things could definitely be worse. No holiday in the sun? Yeah but I'm organising a cheap weekend away with friends in May. That's gonna be great. And I do some challenging voluntary work. You know, my own life ain't so bad. Money isn't the only way to be happy. Life isn't just about avoiding death, is it? It's about living. It's better to pursue your passion than to be pre-occupied with your own mortality all the time. If maybe you're feeling a little low, listen to that TED talk and maybe you can think again what you've got to be grateful for. Let us know what it is ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I have a lot to be grateful for. My life has been far from perfect, but anytime it gets bad, i can't help but be aware that no matter how bad life gets, there is always somebody else worse off, which is enough to shake depression off before it gets in. I have had known many people in MUCH worse situations than me just continue through life without grumbling. Many people don't know how grateful they should be for what they have, even if it's not much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinner Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Life must be OK. No-one not alive ever complains about the alternative, mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamingjimmy Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Life for me is at least partially about avoiding the god-awful Smiths, you'd think that not being alive when they were actually big would be enough, but no! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upinwath Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Life for me is about having a laugh and a joke. When that stops I'll jump off a building but I'll wear a clown suit and leave a note in my pocket stating no necrophiliacs will be welcome at my funeral. I'll also request Monty Python's "bright side of life" be played as they bury my cold, dead body with a very large, and rather obvious, carrot stuffed down my trousers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootsBooster Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Life for me is about having a laugh and a joke. When that stops I'll jump off a building but I'll wear a clown suit and leave a note in my pocket stating no necrophiliacs will be welcome at my funeral. I'll also request Monty Python's "bright side of life" be played as they bury my cold, dead body with a very large, and rather obvious, carrot stuffed down my trousers. Bloody Genius! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mya1986 Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 When things seem bad, how do you lift yourself by being grateful for what you have, rather than what's missing in life? Why do I ask? Well .... I was looking for a job, then I found a job, And Heaven knows I'm miserable now ... Yeah, I was out of work for some time. But I've had a job for 6 months now But then I've just done my budget ... and if I don't have a holiday for the next 15 years, and interest rates stay below 5%, then I'll have just paid off my mortgage before I retire (and my pension arrangements are naff). I have friends who have paid off their mortgages. One couple have bought a campervan and now work just 4 days a week. Another couple are looking at a second home in Spain and others already have their ski chalet in the Alps. They're all good friends, but financially I'm just not in their league. So yeah, it would be pretty easy to be miserable about life . Somehow or another though I manage to keep my head above the surface of depression (although I can be a grumpy get at times. One reason? Listening to TED talks. Here's one example http://www.ted.com/talks/charity_tilleman_dick_singing_after_a_double_lung_transplant.html When you hear other people's stories you realise that no matter how tough and crappy life may seem, things could definitely be worse. No holiday in the sun? Yeah but I'm organising a cheap weekend away with friends in May. That's gonna be great. And I do some challenging voluntary work. You know, my own life ain't so bad. Money isn't the only way to be happy. Life isn't just about avoiding death, is it? It's about living. It's better to pursue your passion than to be pre-occupied with your own mortality all the time. If maybe you're feeling a little low, listen to that TED talk and maybe you can think again what you've got to be grateful for. Let us know what it is ... A beautiful post full of optimism and joy.A lot of are ungrateful for our lot in life but we all have something to be grateful for. I am greatful for my baby daughter my wonderful husband and our life.I am grateful for all my blessings.I am greatful for my friends and family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
medusa Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I was diagnosed with cancer just before Christmas 1996 and told that the Christmas we were about to have would be my last. As a result of the cancer I lost my career, my independence, my physical health, the ability to do every hobby I'd ever done, my ability to have children, my relationship... As it happened, the predicted secondaries that everybody thought would kill me in a matter of months turned out not to be there after extensive tests and the doctors changed their minds about my prognosis after 4 months, and after 12 years of treatment and worry including 8 years of chemo, a full lifetime dose of radiotherapy, 4 operations and what will probably be a full lifetime of painkillers to help me cope with the nerve damage from the surgery, I've been discharged from the Weston Park. Most people who go through finding that they're dying at a really young age only have a few months or maybe a year in which to live out their sudden knowledge that life and every moment in it is precious. With a bit of luck I'll have 50 years in which to appreciate that and having already been through being diagnosed terminal once, nothing short of actually dying is really going to scare me. Every sunny day is so special it makes me cry. I was so very nearly not here to see this, to see my niece and nephew born and grow into such fabulous young people, to see my friends find loving partnerships into which to bring the next generation of humans, to see young angry people grow into middle aged people who have found out that the most important thing in life is making your life count and that this isn't necessarily measured in anger, but in the life in your life. Every time I start up my mobile phone it flashes up a message about growing old being a lot better than the alternative. I look forward to being grey haired and wrinkly- or more precisely, I look forward to being here long enough to get grey haired and wrinkly. I struggle sometimes with depression, but that's not depression about my lot in life, it's more to do with not living up to the fabulously special thing I have been given- a second chance to do the right thing and make my life matter. I know that this post makes me sound like a total nutter about life, but if you had been in the position that I have been of being given this special gift then you would understand how much this matters to me and how even thinking about this has got the tears streaming down my face. Of course life is not about avoiding death- it's so much more than that. If I can see the beauty and fabulousness of life, despite my ill health, disabilities, constant pain and lack of money, then surely everybody else can see it too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spinac Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 Wow, what a story Medusa! I think we're all capable of taking things for granted and not appreciating what we have. We need reminding now and then of the miracle of life, our own life, and to make the most of our precious time here. Tony Robbins once said that people only start living when they face death. Only then do they appreciate their own mortality ... and the joy of being able to see, feel, think, talk and love. Every sunny day is so special it makes me cry. Thanks for sharing this Medusa ... "I always knew I'd look back on the times I cried ... and laugh, but I never thought I'd look back on the times I laughed ... and cry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheapthrillz Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Just remember one thing spinac, even a poor man can enjoy a good s*!tt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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