Is It Time To Consider How Blessed We Are ?

[ALiberalModerate]

I worry that we have to much fear and suspicion foisted upon us.

There really is so much to be grateful fro.

I think most people would benefit from occasionally spending some time in true wilderness. Nothing gives you perspective like standing on a high tundra covered plateau or casting a fly rod into an alpine lake you spent days walking to, and is so far off trail, you likely haven't encountered another soul for days. Experiences like that show you that most of what we experience in our lives are purely human constructs - that the world existed long before we walked on it, and will continue to exist long after we are gone.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I think most people would benefit from occasionally spending some time in true wilderness. Nothing gives you perspective like standing on a high tundra covered plateau or casting a fly rod into an alpine lake you spent days walking to, and is so far off trail, you likely haven't encountered another soul for days. Experiences like that show you that most of what we experience in our lives are purely human constructs - that the world existed long before we walked on it, and will continue to exist long after we are gone.

Completely agree.

Camping is a great way to disconnect from the rubbish of the world and focus on things that are personal and important.

Doing what you describe takes it up a notch further.

Thanks.

 

[Cynical]

Maybe some food for thought, maybe not.

In light of the pictures I've seen of Ukrainians bearing arms in a fight they can't possibly win if Russia totally commits itself, I feel a surge of ungratefulness for all that I enjoy in this country and in my life.

While I don't like the current state of government and a great many other things, I am not being called to lay it all on the line.

I have to be greatful for this country and for it stands for. For so many of it's leaders who made it strong.

I am grateful for the founders, the constitution and the liberties I enjoy.

I am thankful for my family and how blessed we all are.

The list goes on and on.

Sometimes, I think it necessary for me to step back from the whining and be grateful.

Any thoughts.

We all should be grateful to all those who volunteered to fight for this country and for those who gave their lives doing so. In light of your Ukraine reference, how being thankful for those who did believe having a strong military was important such that no country wouldn't dare try that with us.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I've been very very busy as of late.

I still hope I am grateful for all I have been blessed with.

 

[HikerGuy83]

Gratitude for our lives and existence is something we should all practice daily. I know that I don't even have to go around the corner to find someone who is worse off than I am. Whenever I think I have problems, I remind myself that on any given day, there might be as many as 5 billion people on this planet who would trade places with me in a heartbeat.

I wonder if we should not try harder to give children this perspective.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I have been taught by my religious leaders that gratitude is a key part of happiness.

I have found that to be true.

When I find myself down, I look inside and find I am not as grateful as I should be for just the basics.

I don't believe it is just playing mindgames.

I think it is a real principle.

 

[Allan]

Maybe some food for thought, maybe not.

In light of the pictures I've seen of Ukrainians bearing arms in a fight they can't possibly win if Russia totally commits itself, I feel a surge of ungratefulness for all that I enjoy in this country and in my life.

While I don't like the current state of government and a great many other things, I am not being called to lay it all on the line.

I have to be greatful for this country and for it stands for. For so many of it's leaders who made it strong.

I am grateful for the founders, the constitution and the liberties I enjoy.

I am thankful for my family and how blessed we all are.

The list goes on and on.

Sometimes, I think it necessary for me to step back from the whining and be grateful.

Any thoughts.

If you can be grateful for everyday things - everything from the people you love to your job, that's a healthy perspective.

If gratefulness comes by comparing yourself to others less fortunate that isn't gratefulness, that's superiority.

Post 9 took it to a ridiculous extreme.

 

[HikerGuy83]

Grateful for so many things.

We have family who are fighting serious illness.

It truly makes you stop and think to ensure you are spending time with those you love.

I am so grateful for perspective that life gives....even when it is scary and painful.

Wisdom generally does not come from the TV.

 

[Real Korimyr #9]

Plenty to be grateful for, but my ancestors were plenty grateful, too-- and if they didn't wake up every day and choose violence and tell themselves that good wasn't good enough, we wouldn't have half of what we're grateful for today. We owe it to them to do the same for our descendants, so when they're plenty grateful, they feel obligated to go out in the fields and mine the bitcoin with their bare hands like we did.

 

[HikerGuy83]

Plenty to be grateful for, but my ancestors were plenty grateful, too-- and if they didn't wake up every day and choose violence and tell themselves that good wasn't good enough, we wouldn't have half of what we're grateful for today. We owe it to them to do the same for our descendants, so when they're plenty grateful, they feel obligated to go out in the fields and mine the bitcoin with their bare hands like we did.

Finding out what we are made of and where we need to grow is something to be grateful for.

We are blessed out the backside.

Currently reading a book on why we might be losing some of that.

Our progenitors could be happy with a lot less.

I often wonder if having less would make me more happy !

 

[NWRatCon]

I had an extensive conversation with my younger son (he's 30) on this very subject, yesterday. He's, financially, only getting started in life, yet has savings wildly above most of his peers. He wants to buy his own house, but the opportunity seems continually receding from his means. He's very cognizant of his situation, his privilege relative to others, sympathetic to those without, and concerned not only for his future but for those with less. I'm very proud of him.

I, too, have lived in constrained circumstances and in plenty. I've never, however, been without social support, a roof over my head, and sufficient meals to get me through the week. I've always been grateful for that.

I'm presently well off, retired early, and have been frugal without being deprived. I'm currently recalibrating my financial future based upon encroaching needs, but have something that is priceless: choices. That single condition is probably the most important factor in potential happiness. If you have choices, you have plenty.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I had an extensive conversation with my younger son (he's 30) on this very subject, yesterday. He's, financially, only getting started in life, yet has savings wildly above most of his peers. He wants to buy his own house, but the opportunity seems continually receding from his means. He's very cognizant of his situation, his privilege relative to others, sympathetic to those without, and concerned not only for his future but for those with less. I'm very proud of him.

I, too, have lived in constrained circumstances and in plenty. I've never, however, been without social support, a roof over my head, and sufficient meals to get me through the week. I've always been grateful for that.

I'm presently well off, retired early, and have been frugal without being deprived. I'm currently recalibrating my financial future based upon encroaching needs, but have something that is priceless: choices. That single condition is probably the most important factor in potential happiness. If you have choices, you have plenty.

Well stated.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

I look at things like this --

I've been up and lived in a brand new, beautiful 2,600 sf home that we had built from the ground up, and I've lived in a 16x72 single wide trailer with the floor rotting out. I've driven a brand new Cadillac, and I've driven a 20 year old Camry with the muffler tied on with panty hose.

I always appreciate what I have, and where I am at any given time in my life. because all that stuff is just that - stuff. Means nothing to me. As long as I have a way to get around, and a roof over my head, and food in my belly, I'm a happy girl.

Life is so fragile. Belongings - stuff - is fragile and fleeting. Worry more about who you are than what you have. You'll be much happier as a result.

WOW.
I identify fully. And thank you.

I grew up in the DC suburbs of Maryland, educated in maybe one of the best public school systems in the world, living in a 2100 SF split level suburban house in the shadow of Bethesda Naval Hospital. (now Walter Reed Military Medical Center)
I had a pretty rough childhood (Tourettes, Asperger Syndrome) but I managed to free myself of a lot of my burden, so I consider myself lucky to have worked it all out in my head. Maybe it made me stronger, I like to think that it did.

These days my tics only show up if I am really fatigued and under a lot of stress, it's actually a big "tell", you might say.
Is Checkers running out of gas and feeling worn out? Look at his face!
If everything is at a dull roar or going well, you'd never know.

I've been pretty lucky, played in a band for about four years where we traveled all over the Midwest, opened for some pretty big acts...played some pretty large crowds, got talked about in the papers. I've worked some of the most horrible jobs imaginable and some of the most rewarding jobs imaginable so jumping up on stage to play music is definitely "best day at the office EVER"...but same goes for picking up a camera, also "best day at work ever" even if it's a crap gig.

I lived in my old pickup truck for about three weeks when I first got to Minneapolis because the college messed up the student housing thing.
Winter was approaching and I had a head of lettuce and a jar of instant coffee to last three weeks, or so I thought, but I lucked out and got Day Labor and managed to squeeze in a few days humping trucks and freight cars and then in a stroke of insane luck, found the kids who brought me on board to play piano.
My fortunes improved pretty quickly but those couple of weeks where I had no idea where I'd be come winter taught me a lot.

From Minneapolis to Los Angeles, eventually to a hip and funky hippie home in Venice, then to a posh apartment in Santa Monica with a studio next to the Boardwalk to boot.

I was a union film editor for about five years, and worked for a Russian language cable TV show for six years.
I shot freelance news for the largest freelance news outfit in the world.
I built my own small post production and videotape duplication outfit and had a blast, working with people I never dreamed would cross my path.
I was double and triple dipping with money coming in from all directions and I was married to a genuine "Hollywood starlet".
For a while there I made more money than God, and then later managed to waste most of it by becoming a coke fiend, then a crackhead.
I enjoyed Hollywood bliss, then Hollywood destruction, circled the drain for awhile in a crumbling and depressing bachelor pad...even my cat ran away, which broke my heart again. Now I was truly alone in the world with not much hope for the future.

And then Karen dropped out of the sky and into my lap and everything I lost or threw away was returned to me, in a manner of speaking.
I managed to "get my life back" again. There is no way I can ever be grateful enough for that...someone or something "upstairs" not only had a sense of humor, they or it must have felt bad for me and wanted me to get another go round.

From a crappy bachelor pad in L.A. with nothing, to a trailer home in Jonesboro Arkansas, to a starter home in Dallas, all the way back here to SoCal with a lovely big home in Whittier. Wife Karen is the strongest woman I've ever met...she was a Navy diesel mechanic on a tugboat full of men, she gave birth to two kids, saved one from death while losing the ability to walk herself, endured a horrible divorce from a selfish "man-child" and now puts up with me. We raised her kids and to me, they're MY kids, not "step" children.

I'll never be able to repay "God" or "The Universe" the good fortune and continued chances I've been given.
And if it really all does go to Hell in the near future, at least I'll be able to look back on when life gave me much to be thankful for.
I'll never run out of fond memories.

 

[Superfly]

WOW.
I identify fully. And thank you.

I grew up in the DC suburbs of Maryland, educated in maybe one of the best public school systems in the world, living in a 2100 SF split level suburban house in the shadow of Bethesda Naval Hospital. (now Walter Reed Military Medical Center)
I had a pretty rough childhood (Tourettes, Asperger Syndrome) but I managed to free myself of a lot of my burden, so I consider myself lucky to have worked it all out in my head. Maybe it made me stronger, I like to think that it did.

These days my tics only show up if I am really fatigued and under a lot of stress, it's actually a big "tell", you might say.
Is Checkers running out of gas and feeling worn out? Look at his face!
If everything is at a dull roar or going well, you'd never know.

I've been pretty lucky, played in a band for about four years where we traveled all over the Midwest, opened for some pretty big acts...played some pretty large crowds, got talked about in the papers. I've worked some of the most horrible jobs imaginable and some of the most rewarding jobs imaginable so jumping up on stage to play music is definitely "best day at the office EVER"...but same goes for picking up a camera, also "best day at work ever" even if it's a crap gig.

I lived in my old pickup truck for about three weeks when I first got to Minneapolis because the college messed up the student housing thing.
Winter was approaching and I had a head of lettuce and a jar of instant coffee to last three weeks, or so I thought, but I lucked out and got Day Labor and managed to squeeze in a few days humping trucks and freight cars and then in a stroke of insane luck, found the kids who brought me on board to play piano.
My fortunes improved pretty quickly but those couple of weeks where I had no idea where I'd be come winter taught me a lot.

From Minneapolis to Los Angeles, eventually to a hip and funky hippie home in Venice, then to a posh apartment in Santa Monica with a studio next to the Boardwalk to boot.

I was a union film editor for about five years, and worked for a Russian language cable TV show for six years.
I shot freelance news for the largest freelance news outfit in the world.
I built my own small post production and videotape duplication outfit and had a blast, working with people I never dreamed would cross my path.
I was double and triple dipping with money coming in from all directions and I was married to a genuine "Hollywood starlet".
For a while there I made more money than God, and then later managed to waste most of it by becoming a coke fiend, then a crackhead.
I enjoyed Hollywood bliss, then Hollywood destruction, circled the drain for awhile in a crumbling and depressing bachelor pad...even my cat ran away, which broke my heart again. Now I was truly alone in the world with not much hope for the future.

And then Karen dropped out of the sky and into my lap and everything I lost or threw away was returned to me, in a manner of speaking.
I managed to "get my life back" again. There is no way I can ever be grateful enough for that...someone or something "upstairs" not only had a sense of humor, they or it must have felt bad for me and wanted me to get another go round.

From a crappy bachelor pad in L.A. with nothing, to a trailer home in Jonesboro Arkansas, to a starter home in Dallas, all the way back here to SoCal with a lovely big home in Whittier. Wife Karen is the strongest woman I've ever met...she was a Navy diesel mechanic on a tugboat full of men, she gave birth to two kids, saved one from death while losing the ability to walk herself, endured a horrible divorce from a selfish "man-child" and now puts up with me. We raised her kids and to me, they're MY kids, not "step" children.

I'll never be able to repay "God" or "The Universe" the good fortune and continued chances I've been given.
And if it really all does go to Hell in the near future, at least I'll be able to look back on when life gave me much to be thankful for.
I'll never run out of fond memories.

nicely said. No matter what happens, we always have fond memories to get us through.

 

[dmpi]

It's a balancing act. Always be grateful and thankful for everything you've accomplished. But don't let that demotivate you from striving for more.

 

[HikerGuy83]

WOW.
I identify fully. And thank you.

I grew up in the DC suburbs of Maryland, educated in maybe one of the best public school systems in the world, living in a 2100 SF split level suburban house in the shadow of Bethesda Naval Hospital. (now Walter Reed Military Medical Center)
I had a pretty rough childhood (Tourettes, Asperger Syndrome) but I managed to free myself of a lot of my burden, so I consider myself lucky to have worked it all out in my head. Maybe it made me stronger, I like to think that it did.

These days my tics only show up if I am really fatigued and under a lot of stress, it's actually a big "tell", you might say.
Is Checkers running out of gas and feeling worn out? Look at his face!
If everything is at a dull roar or going well, you'd never know.

I've been pretty lucky, played in a band for about four years where we traveled all over the Midwest, opened for some pretty big acts...played some pretty large crowds, got talked about in the papers. I've worked some of the most horrible jobs imaginable and some of the most rewarding jobs imaginable so jumping up on stage to play music is definitely "best day at the office EVER"...but same goes for picking up a camera, also "best day at work ever" even if it's a crap gig.

I lived in my old pickup truck for about three weeks when I first got to Minneapolis because the college messed up the student housing thing.
Winter was approaching and I had a head of lettuce and a jar of instant coffee to last three weeks, or so I thought, but I lucked out and got Day Labor and managed to squeeze in a few days humping trucks and freight cars and then in a stroke of insane luck, found the kids who brought me on board to play piano.
My fortunes improved pretty quickly but those couple of weeks where I had no idea where I'd be come winter taught me a lot.

From Minneapolis to Los Angeles, eventually to a hip and funky hippie home in Venice, then to a posh apartment in Santa Monica with a studio next to the Boardwalk to boot.

I was a union film editor for about five years, and worked for a Russian language cable TV show for six years.
I shot freelance news for the largest freelance news outfit in the world.
I built my own small post production and videotape duplication outfit and had a blast, working with people I never dreamed would cross my path.
I was double and triple dipping with money coming in from all directions and I was married to a genuine "Hollywood starlet".
For a while there I made more money than God, and then later managed to waste most of it by becoming a coke fiend, then a crackhead.
I enjoyed Hollywood bliss, then Hollywood destruction, circled the drain for awhile in a crumbling and depressing bachelor pad...even my cat ran away, which broke my heart again. Now I was truly alone in the world with not much hope for the future.

And then Karen dropped out of the sky and into my lap and everything I lost or threw away was returned to me, in a manner of speaking.
I managed to "get my life back" again. There is no way I can ever be grateful enough for that...someone or something "upstairs" not only had a sense of humor, they or it must have felt bad for me and wanted me to get another go round.

From a crappy bachelor pad in L.A. with nothing, to a trailer home in Jonesboro Arkansas, to a starter home in Dallas, all the way back here to SoCal with a lovely big home in Whittier. Wife Karen is the strongest woman I've ever met...she was a Navy diesel mechanic on a tugboat full of men, she gave birth to two kids, saved one from death while losing the ability to walk herself, endured a horrible divorce from a selfish "man-child" and now puts up with me. We raised her kids and to me, they're MY kids, not "step" children.

I'll never be able to repay "God" or "The Universe" the good fortune and continued chances I've been given.
And if it really all does go to Hell in the near future, at least I'll be able to look back on when life gave me much to be thankful for.
I'll never run out of fond memories.

Thank you for sharing something so personal.

Sounds like you got something fantastic in your life. I guess I can only encourage your train of thought and take care of those things that are most important to us.

While fond memories are important, it is the relationships we form that mean eversomuch to us.

Pause taken to consider what you've written.

Again....thanks.

 

[SayMyName]

Maybe some food for thought, maybe not.

In light of the pictures I've seen of Ukrainians bearing arms in a fight they can't possibly win if Russia totally commits itself, I feel a surge of ungratefulness for all that I enjoy in this country and in my life.

While I don't like the current state of government and a great many other things, I am not being called to lay it all on the line.

I have to be greatful for this country and for it stands for. For so many of it's leaders who made it strong.

I am grateful for the founders, the constitution and the liberties I enjoy.

I am thankful for my family and how blessed we all are.

The list goes on and on.

Sometimes, I think it necessary for me to step back from the whining and be grateful.

Any thoughts.

I am grateful for every day I can wake up and put my feet on the ground and breath. Everything that comes afterwards is gravy.

 

[HikerGuy83]

I am grateful for every day I can wake up and put my feet on the ground and breath. Everything that comes afterwards is gravy.

Amen

 

[NWRatCon]

I am grateful for every day I can wake up and put my feet on the ground and breath. Everything that comes afterwards is gravy.

Ironically, I'm having difficulty putting my feet on the ground, today. I slipped in the bathroom and at least sprained two toes when my foot smacked the wall. I'm grateful, though, I still have toes to stub.

 

[NolanVoyd]

In light of the pictures I've seen of Ukrainians bearing arms in a fight they can't possibly win if Russia totally commits itself

I just re read your OP, from February 27th. At the time I would have wholeheartedly agreed with your assessment in the part quoted above.

But here we are in October. Russia has totally committed itself........and the Ukranians are winning.

Good for them!

 

[SayMyName]

Ironically, I'm having difficulty putting my feet on the ground, today. I slipped in the bathroom and at least sprained two toes when my foot smacked the wall. I'm grateful, though, I still have toes to stub.

Goodness. I know that hurt. What is it with toes anyway, that they hurt so much when you bang them up?

 

[NWRatCon]

Goodness. I know that hurt. What is it with toes anyway, that they hurt so much when you bang them up?

I think it is to remind us how valuable they are. They really do "keep us on our toes". Since mine don't hurt as much today, I don't think they're broken, but they're Deep Purple without Ian Paice, now.

 

[Jacksprat]

Maybe some food for thought, maybe not.

In light of the pictures I've seen of Ukrainians bearing arms in a fight they can't possibly win if Russia totally commits itself, I feel a surge of ungratefulness for all that I enjoy in this country and in my life.

While I don't like the current state of government and a great many other things, I am not being called to lay it all on the line.

I have to be greatful for this country and for it stands for. For so many of it's leaders who made it strong.

I am grateful for the founders, the constitution and the liberties I enjoy.

I am thankful for my family and how blessed we all are.

The list goes on and on.

Sometimes, I think it necessary for me to step back from the whining and be grateful.

Any thoughts.

Do you support Trump's violent coup attempt?

 

[NWRatCon]

Do you support Trump's violent coup attempt?

Way to harsh a mellow, dude.

 

[Jacksprat]

Way to harsh a mellow, dude.

So you support fascism.