what IS life...really?

I agree fully Agent Violet. I feel its because from when we are born we are "fed" one version of what "life" is, in a way, and what we can and can't or should and shouldn't do.

Existence is existence, and it is whatever we make or want/choose to make of it, I think.

I agree that "living" shouldn't alway mean gatherings like that. It can be whatever you want/find fun.

It also gets to me when people say things like "You only live once".

How do they know?

Although I don't know for sure, it seems quite possible to me that existence cant just STOP. That we can't have just come out of nothing and go back into nothing. If theres a starting point, it cant have startd in NOTHING......and I mean real NOTHING haha. Same for the universe IMO.

Anyway....

I honestly think so much could be possible depending on how we program our belief system, including "age", how long we live, and death.

Saskia said:

Life is given to you. a chance to take, and of course give love to other people. It's YOU who decides who you LOVE and TAKE and RETURN
It's your choice to TAKE and GIVE, it's your world that you want to TAKE and not GIVE into... Just TAKE what you love and GIVE what you wanna share to the world and think what you want.... It's all about your own world.

Life is a chance, an opportunity, a daily risk beautifully and sad, an offer of good precious moments, a moment of decisions, discover life every day more, like a child is born and a puppy walking first time.. Also, life is to bring you what you want. What do you want? What you do live for? Just think about it. Or not think about it, just live.

Life is just what you make of it yourrrself

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Yeah, what Saskia said.

Absolutely_Sweet_Marie said:

As for advertising...I'm thoroughly convinced that it is evil. I don't watch television, but on the rare occasion when I am around someone who is, I am simply shocked by the messages that are being thrown at people nonstop. I'm always left wondering if anyone else thinks it's as ridiculous as I do? Maybe after a while you get numb to it and just don't realize that the best thing you can do is ignore absolutely everything they are trying to tell you. Marketing is sneaky, manipulative, and profit-driven. It just makes me sick even to think about it.

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Absolutely, Sweet Marie. Corporatism is the devil in disguise. I don't believe people in general can properly differentiate between TV and real life. It's mass mind control. The antidepressant ads especially get to me.

If a TV could talk to kids :

Hey kids! I know you pretty much feel worthless, your not as beautiful as the people on TV, or as rich, or have much of an exciting life in comparison, your pretty much and idiot because their all smarter then you, oh and did I mention that your never going to acheieve anything and that your hero should be hannah montannah and the johnas brothers? oh okay just making sure. Now while you sip your favorite brand of cola and eat that delicious cambells franken soup Im going to tell you a little story about a sad rock. This sad rocks has been feeling pretty down lately, he lost his job,dog died anf or was bullied, so he was really sad. You know what made him better?? Zoloft! Now ask your doctor you idiots. Or you will forever be alone. The end.

Seriously though, very frightening when you think about it. I suppose it's still on topic in a way. Life is not measured by a social network or the falsehoods spewing at you from the TV. Life is everything that YOU make of it and that YOU want. Not what those corporate dogs manipulate you into believing you want. /end rant

NP88 said:

If a TV could talk to kids :

Hey kids! I know you pretty much feel worthless, your not as beautiful as the people on TV, or as rich, or have much of an exciting life in comparison, your pretty much and idiot because their all smarter then you, oh and did I mention that your never going to acheieve anything and that your hero should be hannah montannah and the johnas brothers? oh okay just making sure. Now while you sip your favorite brand of cola and eat that delicious cambells franken soup Im going to tell you a little story about a sad rock. This sad rocks has been feeling pretty down lately, he lost his job,dog died anf or was bullied, so he was really sad. You know what made him better?? Zoloft! Now ask your doctor you idiots. Or you will forever be alone. The end.

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omg. i nearly choked on my coffee laughing at this...it's SO freaking true. sad and hilarious at the same time

Agent_Violet said:

We spend so much time focusing on what we "should" be doing or how we "should" be living our lives.

But what IS life?? Why does the whole phrase Live Your Life have to mean load up on friends and social gatherings,have a successful career,live on your own,etc...?

Who says that is the way to live your life? What if you're just supposed to grow spiritually and be a good person in order to be counted as a person who lived their life??

I just don't understand why people who don't have friends and connections have to be considered as not having a life.

If our lives are what we make them, why is it not ok to just be alone and be happy with yourself?? When did standard of living become a contest of how many friends we have and how many people value us? If we value ourselves is the rest REALLY that important? Does it really matter how many trips around the world you've made? Does it really matter how many people you'd have to attend your funeral? Isn't it enough to just be a nice person who is happy and content with the way they are without needing hoards of admirers and social gatherings to get fulfillment?
Why is it considered pathetic and indicative of loserville if your circle of friends are online? Why is it shameful to find yourself in love with someone you've conversed with via the internet? Who gets to judge these things and determine that they're not the way to live your life????

I'm rambling and probably not making much sense. This just popped into my head and I wanted to express it.

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Good post. It seems to me people on this forum are caught in exactly this mode, just see it too onesidedly. On one hand, I don´t wonder at all because it´s the first thing the world around us makes us to think and feel. But sometimes I have similar thoughts like you expressed here too.. I sometimes ask why shouldn´t I have the same right to live on this planet like everyone else, or right to have a job etc.. as if I kind of felt guilty for living or taking up space, because I am not good enough or do everything wrong.. I always have to override this feeling by thoughts, otherwise I couldn´t go anywhere out of shame that I exist, and not speak to anyone either. And of course I wouldn´t write on this forum or anywhere else on internet.

One of my guilty pleasures is watching those wedding shows they have on TLC. Yeah, they are not good for me. It makes me sad I will never have a proper wedding. And if I were to, I would have no one to invite, to share in my happiness. Makes me so depressed. But even if I stopped watching those shows, the feeling would be there.

For me, I don't feel like I am really living my life in my current state. I am not doing much living actually. And it has nothing to do with the way others view me really. I crave companionship...friends. I want a job, I want to travel, to experience new things. I want adventure. I created this problem. And I have to fix it.

Agent_Violet said:

But what IS life??

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Well, for me, it's just the bit between me living and dying, that either I have influence over or has influence over me.

What if you're just supposed to grow spiritually and be a good person in order to be counted as a person who lived their life??

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Then that would be just another set of ideals for 'how to live your life'. It may be a set of ideals that suits you better - or it may not. But it's still an imposition of 'should' on what you do with this limited length of time when you inhabit a physical body in a physical world.

There are as many 'live your lifes' as there are people. Some very similar, some wildly different. Yours is one.

I just don't understand why people who don't have friends and connections have to be considered as not having a life.

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Perhaps because it's the right of a 'live your life by having lots of friends etc.' person to think whatever he/she likes. If that includes, 'having friends is the ideal' then once again: that's the person's right. On the other side of the fence, the person who lives an 'I don't have to have lots of friends' existence will do well to be aware that noticing 'having friends is the ideal's opinion of solitude is something that goes on in 'I don't have to have friends' head.

So, what is 'I don't have to have friends' going to do with that information? Fret about it? Decide that it's just another opinion on how to live life? Try to become more sociable to fit in with this other person?

The question of how to deal with others' life philosophies, which conflict with one's own, is one of the trappings of the question you asked at the start of this thread. It's part of how to live your life.

I've shied away from calling a person's response to this conundrum a choice because I don't think it is. If you worry and don't know how not to (or struggle to stick with a plan of not worrying) then that's part of the set of problems you have. If you don't worry about it then, well, hooray! But feeling put-upon, or left out in the cold because you don't share the 'have lots of friends' philosophy can potentially make life very difficult.

If our lives are what we make them, why is it not ok to just be alone and be happy with yourself??

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According to whose opinion? And how important is that person's opinion, really?

When did standard of living become a contest of how many friends we have and how many people value us?

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Is it a standard?

If we value ourselves is the rest REALLY that important?

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Hmm... I think so. It's worth being aware of others' philosophies on life. While getting hung up on the fact that others see life differently is unproductive, the information can come in very helpful sometimes.

I think it just needs to be kept in the right context so we don't end up making ourselves miserable.

Isn't it enough to just be a nice person who is happy and content with the way they are without needing hoards of admirers and social gatherings to get fulfillment?

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Is it enough for you?

I'm rambling and probably not making much sense. This just popped into my head and I wanted to express it.

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No problem.