[The Dude]

Really, I mean that seriously. How many of you have simply said "**** this, it ain't worth it"? In the last few years of my fairly ****ed up life, I have realized this. Anybody else?

When I mean stopped caring, I mean about life and all the wonderful things it can bring and conveys.

[plaidpjs]

Woah... why do i suddenly feel like the lounge just became the suicide hotline... just kidding... life is too spectacular to stop caring...

[AlbertWu]

I am a bad combination of laziness and inquizitiveness. If someone doesn't answer my question on why I should do it, I don't because I'm LAZY!

------------------
Pioneering the Drunken Circle tool since 2001.

[C-Eye]

Yeah, I stopped caring a long time ago, but I just have to stay around to see what happens next in this ****ed up world!

There's always that hope thing, plus my family, my dog, and Star Wars Episode II to look forward to. Pathetic, I know, but reason enough to stick out life.

------------------

[AlbertWu]

NOTE: MacNN is not responsible for any death, suicide, or attempted suicide due to this or any other thread.

------------------
Pioneering the Drunken Circle tool since 2001.

[The Dude]

Suicide? Been there, thought about it heavily atleast. But don't worry, I am not going to do myself any day soon, I'm too angry. It's fun to try and vent anger.

More will be posted later.

[tie]

Dude, I feel your pain. I'm sure we all do, to varying degrees, though maybe it's better to make a joke. What to say? Hope is a pain because it's usually false. To me, the hardest things I've learned have been my own flaws.

Listen to some good music, I'm playing Susannah McCorkle's Manha de Carnaval. "And my heart leaps as high / As the sun in the sky. / I'm so happy that I / Want to cry." She killed herself two weeks ago but she has some great songs out there.

[murbot]

I chew holes in the fabric of creation
I am the survivor of the all night room
I don't look for ways out
I know where I am


------------------
[Removed at the request of Apple Legal]

[Scrod]

Unfortunately, I still care, but I lost all willpower to do anything about it.

[Bugs Bunny]

A different world cannot be built by indifferent people.

[ort888]

I was going to respond, but I decided that I just didn't care.

------------------

[cheerios]

Originally posted by The Dude:
Really, I mean that seriously. How many of you have simply said "**** this, it ain't worth it"? In the last few years of my fairly ****ed up life, I have realized this. Anybody else?

When I mean stopped caring, I mean about life and all the wonderful things it can bring and conveys.

I empathize, dude... Only thing that got me through High school was the knowledge that the college I wanted to go to, required you to live in the dorms freshman year, so I'd get to move out of this insane asylum, into someplace with NORMAL people!!

Life is worth caring for... but you gotta chose your battles sometimes, and let somethings go, to make it through to the things that DO matter... Being with someone you love, making your OWN life...


------------------

...it's only life after all!
--Indigo Girls

[Cipher13]

I often think, "screw this messed up planet, whats the point?" and other stuff like that. Then, I look outside and see trees, clouds, grass, amazing works of nature, and think, the problem isn't life, but us.

We are the scourge of the world. We can't fix it by giving up, and we can't fix it with indifference.

Just take a look outside - it will really amaze you if you think about it. There is good in everything, even humans. Just think about someone you care deeply for.

That all makes it clear - life is worthwhile, but its not easy. Giving up, ie. suicide, is giving in to life - life is a competition, a war - be the winner and don't let it kick your ass.

Being as stubborn as I am its easy for me to keep going, to "spite" anything that wants me to give up. But thats not how it should be looked at.

Wow... I think that is totally incoherent. Do any of those paragraphs fit together? I don't know. Oh well. I'll assume they do and will post this now.


------------------

AIM: Cipher1387
ICQ: 48111606
mail: [email protected]

[bradoesch]

I think everybody has felt like that at one time or another. But you've just gotta work though it, and there ARE things to look forward to. Read the book, "Les Miserables". Jean Valjean couldn't have got in any worse of a situation than what he was in. Then things turned around, and well, it all got much better for him.
And if you believe in God (or are willing to listen to me talk about Him), I believe that if you are still living, He has a purpose for you life. You weren't created for nothing.

------------------
Why 1984, won't be
like "1984"

[jeffhot]

What? No!! ... oh, you mean about professional baseball! That's different. Yeah, I gave up on it years ago.

[tie]

Originally posted by bradoesch:
I think everybody has felt like that at one time or another. But you've just gotta work though it, and there ARE things to look forward to. Read the book, "Les Miserables". Jean Valjean couldn't have got in any worse of a situation than what he was in. Then things turned around, and well, it all got much better for him.

It's a great book but if you're in a slump, reading it will guarantee you stay in that slump for about a month (depending on how fast a reader you are ). And while at the very end Valjean's happy, he also dies at the very end so he's not happy for long. (And then there's Javert's suicide.. real happy story.)

[jeffhot]

Uh yeah, sounds like a great recommendation. Maybe he should also read "The Grapes of Wrath". That would really cheer him up.

[Archangel]

Y'all need to cheer up. There are greater problems out there than our own little problems.

------------------
I got a yellow slinky from Outpost.com

[Avenir]

I say "**** it" and give up just about every 20 minutes, but then I look outside and see a palm tree and give myself another 20 minute extension...

------------------
[email protected] | 3932806 | Avenirx
http://www.avenirex.com

[jeffhot]

No **** , like will the Bucks make it to the Finals, or will Philly be the one to get to get swept by the Lakers? Or as stated before, what will Episode II and III be like?

[cheerios]

Originally posted by Archangel:
Y'all need to cheer up. There are greater problems out there than our own little problems.

like? What's bigger, in my mind, than pending homelessness, large debt, and a 3 month forced excile from the one stable point in my life? I don't blame him for bein' stressed, I get what he's sayin'... been there, doing that...

------------------

...it's only life after all!
--Indigo Girls

[jeffhot]

Stability is not to be counted on from the outside world. Security can only come from within. Change is the nature of all things.


TiingTinTing, TongGongSongHong, KringPlingGlongongongongong ...

[Arty50]

Cipher, you made perfect sense, and your post was right on. There are so many good things and people in this world. You just don't always see them. Usually they're staring you right in the face, but not saying anything. So you just have to slow down for a minute and find the beauty that surrounds you. Forgive the cliche, but don't forget to stop and smell the roses. You'll be glad you did.

[WDL]

If you need an attitude adjustment (which is what I'm hearing here) just watch someone
with cerebral palsy for a few minutes, and you'll be ashamed that you felt sorry for yourself.

Sometimes we really benefit from viewing the problems/obstacles others face to newly
appreciate how very fortunate we are.

When you find out you have cancer (which I have) you look at earaches, toothaches and
piles as a "walk in the park."

Anyway, it's only prostate cancer and thanks to brachytherapy (the implanting of radioactive seeds
into the prostate - 211 of them for the technophobes) which knocked the crap out of it (the cancer
that is) I don't give a sh-one-t.

I'm also an alcolholic who quit practicing the art eleven years ago, which wasn't hard to do -
the world just looks so much better when you view it with clear eyes.

I just quit smoking eight days ago, and for a three-pack a day user who started when he was twelve
THAT's a REAL problem! But thanks to Nicorette gum, it's much easier than I expected.

Everyone here (one assumes) has a computer - only an unattainable dream for most of the people of
the world.

Jeez! Celebrate your good fortune!

WDL

[cheerios]

I'm sorry to hear about your cancer, WDL.
I wonder, though, if, after having a hand amputated, a paper cut never hurts again... Just a thought...
I'm not saying that my issues in life are anywhere near the end of the world... Just that they are significant to my life, and as such, I feel they're important. I know that if I lose my scholarship, the world will keep spinning, but I will have to drop out, and that is significant to me, if to no one else...:-/ Oh well... just different ways of lookin' at life, I guess...

------------------

...it's only life after all!
--Indigo Girls

[pete.z]

I care,but only for myself and family.
I hate it that it come this far,but I guess it's coming to that when you grow older....you get more cynical,and start to see that you can't change a **** at this world.
Better look after yourself,nobody else is going to do it for you....

(reading it back,it sounds more bitter then I am,I still enjoy life and this world a lot!!)

[WDL]

Cheerios:

No sympathy required - in the two years since the implants, my PSA readings have stayed
just measurable. As far as the implants go - went into Princess Margaret Hospital (Toronto - Canada's
leading cancer facility) one day, had the implants the next and went home the day after.

I've had visits to the dentist that were more uncomfortable.

And hey, there's a couple of bright points to this:

1. Under our medical system - NO BILL!

2. I got to see the PM Hospital which is gorgeous inside - eight storey atrium at the entrance etc.

About that scholarship. It's amazing how often people lose a job or experience some other
loss, and it steers them in a new direction - and when you talk to them later they'll tell you
it was the best thing that ever happened.

Also look at the people who have profound education, yet go in a different direction - Bill Cosby with
a doctorate in education, Caroll O'Connor with a doctorate in english literature. A top photographic
equipment executive I knew was an aeronautical engineer!

Hope you get the scholarship, but if you don't, really hope you can take advantage of the
opportunities that are there - the question is - can we see them?

WDL

[seanyepez]

Well, the world is very screwed up, but I don't have to add to the problem. It's better to look at it this way - you're either a contributor to society or something else. That something else, in turn, is negative.

It still hurts when someone tries to be pretentious. It pains me to see someone insecure. It horrifies me to see someone blatently unkind.

[suprz]

Originally posted by The Dude:
Really, I mean that seriously. How many of you have simply said "**** this, it ain't worth it"? In the last few years of my fairly ****ed up life, I have realized this. Anybody else?

When I mean stopped caring, I mean about life and all the wonderful things it can bring and conveys.

welcome to my world.........

------------------
" I think,
therefore....IMAC

[Not_Dark_Yet]

"People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed"

BOB DYLAN - "Things have changed"

I'd go along with that.

[Matsu]

Originally posted by The Dude:
...don't worry, I am not going to do myself any day soon, I'm too angry.

I do myself at least three times a day, no matter how angry... wait, doh!... I see we're using the expression differently.

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by pete.z:
I care,but only for myself and family.
I hate it that it come this far,but I guess it's coming to that when you grow older....you get more cynical,and start to see that you can't change a **** at this world.
Better look after yourself,nobody else is going to do it for you....

(reading it back,it sounds more bitter then I am,I still enjoy life and this world a lot!!)

You can and do change the world without even knowing it. The slightest, most insignificant thing changes everything. By my very keystrokes tonight I could inadvertently cause the death of a man in Saudi Arabia 15 years from now.

Get what I mean?

You can change this world, in normal terms, too - just not if you don't think you can. I bloody well intend on making this planet a better place. As sean said... I can't stand to see someone just being unkind purposely for no reason. I won't put up with that... and thats a start.

Intolerance (in a good way) leads to change (in a good way). And change for the better is what this forsaken society needs right now...


------------------

AIM: Cipher1387
ICQ: 48111606
mail: [email protected]

[l'ignorante]

Dude, go to http://www.hoogerbrugge.com , select from 'archives' nr 76 (Oracle)

[plaidpjs]

Originally posted by cheerios:
I'm sorry to hear about your cancer, WDL.
I wonder, though, if, after having a hand amputated, a paper cut never hurts again... Just a thought...
I'm not saying that my issues in life are anywhere near the end of the world... Just that they are significant to my life, and as such, I feel they're important. I know that if I lose my scholarship, the world will keep spinning, but I will have to drop out, and that is significant to me, if to no one else...:-/ Oh well... just different ways of lookin' at life, I guess...

Losing a scholarship does not mean having to drop out of school. although just a bit dated, I was an expert at financial aid concerns when I was an undergrad. There is always a way to "find" more money, if you really want to finish your education!

[l'ignorante]

Originally posted by WDL:
If you need an attitude adjustment (which is what I'm hearing here) just watch someone
with cerebral palsy for a few minutes, and you'll be ashamed that you felt sorry for yourself.

Sometimes we really benefit from viewing the problems/obstacles others face to newly
appreciate how very fortunate we are.

When you find out you have cancer (which I have) you look at earaches, toothaches and
piles as a "walk in the park."

.....

With all respect for your serious problem, I still believe you can not say somebody should be ashamed to feel sorry for himself, because there are other people with bigger problems. Then you should also be ashamed, if you ever felt sorry for yourself, which I'm sure you must have felt, it's a normal human reaction to pain.
What I mean, there is no end to this kind of reasoning. Nobody may feel selfpitty except this one human who's suffering most of all. Who's to judge? And if we can not feel sorry for ourselves, I fear we can also not feel sorry for others.

[gumby5647]

after the love of my life stopped....um...loving me...and started making all the wrong decision in life..... i pretty much stopped caring.

right now its just like the words in that one song...."any way the wind blows"

------------------
AIM: gumby5647
ICQ:41746288
[email protected]
http://homepage.mac.com/gumby5647
iMac DV +, Indigo,
GO PHANTOM REGIMENT! All the way in '01!

[Xeo]

I'm content. I got crap grades in school and am at risk of losing my scholarship. Day-to-day this doesn't bother me. I guess I don't put problems I can't immediately fix at the top of my mind all the time. Is this a good way to deal with them? I don't know, but it's how I work.

Apathy, I guess, is the best way for me to deal with stuff, so I see what some of you are saying.

I don't think you should stop caring about life. I'm glad I'm here. I just wish I had more than 24 hours in a day (and everyone else had less). It goes by so fast and I can't do everything I want. Selective apathy is they way to go... I guess.

To they guy who studied financial aid, can you tell me where the extra "money" is? I don't know where to look. Anything specific?

------------------

[Jsnuff1]

its kinda funny, only latly have i realized what life is, from what i have been through this past year ive come to the conclusion that life tries to screw you in any and every possible way there is, but as cipher said dont give in...life really is a battle and you cant let it win, no matter what happens just look straight into its face and trudge on

[cheerios]

Originally posted by plaidpjs:
Losing a scholarship does not mean having to drop out of school. although just a bit dated, I was an expert at financial aid concerns when I was an undergrad. There is always a way to "find" more money, if you really want to finish your education!

I'm goin to school half on this scholarship, half on a student loan that's gonna put me in debt for forever and a day. I go to a private school, tuition is 20,000 a year, and climbing, and you are REQUIRED to live on campus for the first 2 years. So, like Xeo said, where IS all this money?!!? Help would be MUCH appreciated...

------------------

...it's only life after all!
--Indigo Girls

[MikeM32]

I hate dumping my problems, because most of the time I know nobody cares or has enough crap of thier own to deal with. It's not natural reaction to pain to feel sorry for oneself however, it's a chosen feeling. You either choose to be martyred and play the boo hoo look at me my life sucks routine, or you make the best of whatever you've got leftover and move along.

I could have stopped caring after my ex wife dumped me, I lost my license indefinitely, and started surmounting a sh_tload of credit debt and fines. But I am thankful for every day, every hour every minute and every second that I live.

My homelife sucks that is, I should say I don't have a life outside of work, so I balance that out by living for what I do, and I've received many rewards from throwing myself into my work after my divorce, rather then feeling sorry for myself.

I don't seek pity from anyone else and I refuse to pity myself. As far as caring goes I think you have to care for yourself first, then others will care about you, and you will inevitably care about them. You also have to know when to say f_ck it sometimes, but always at least try to truly care first.

If you gave life your best shot then you can't be anything else but proud and confident in yourself and in others. And as far as the little obstacles that come along? Well they make life challenging. You just can't let a challenge turn into a depression.

Sometimes a little denial is also healthy, the people that wind-up insane are usually the ones that get wrapped-up with thier own problems. Better to simply deny some problems even exist if you can then to dwell on things you cannot control for whatever reason.

At least that's my phylosophy, and if you like it or hate it either way it still means you care

Mike

[ 06-03-2001: Message edited by: MikeM32 ]

[poocat]

y'know...

the more i realize just how much everyone we know struggles every day,
the more i realize how worthwhile this all is.

every morning i wake up.
and that's so neat!
there's so much to do in this world, so much to see, and at the end of each day, i'm content, knowing that i've done what i could and laughed when i could.

it's always amazing to hear about the troubles of others.
yeah, i've been pretty thoughtful lately,
graduating, leaving all my friends and my home for four years, changing just about every stable thing in my life at the same time...

but y'know what?

there's so much out there i just don't know about.
so much i can't imagine, and so much i imagine but have never seen that it's really worth living, worth looking, worth working for it.

i don't know.
i'm 21, momentarily unemployed, broke, & partially homeless.

ha!
i love this life.

enjoy it.
why not?

poocat.

[Feathers]

What a pathetic bunch of whiners!

Every day above ground is a good day, get a shaggin' life or take the one you have but please don't bore us with your B.S. Go ahead and kill yourselves but don't take the rest of us with you!

[Kosmo]

Man, what a great thread, we should keep it going.

These past few weeks I have been getting worse and worse with my attitude about life. And it's ridiculous. I have a great wife, decent kids , a couple of great dogs (newfoundland and min-pin) and the latest and greatest computers, a 63" HDTV and just about every new piece of technological marvel that comes down the pike...hell, I even own my own home and drive a Dodge Stealth Twin Turbo...material crap...

But, when I go outside into the real world I am beginning to hate it all. I look around at people and wonder what their life is about, the choices they made, things like that. Most people don't have it as good as I do yet I've been getting depressed. Not seriously, just 'blah'.... even my sex drive has taken a nose dive.

I guess I miss the excitement that I used to get when I was younger. The mistakes I could make that really didn't matter. Now everything I do matters and mistakes are more costly.

I don't know...everyone has some real serious issues and most have a good handle on it. That's great to hear. If you are young you have the time to make your dreams come true. Just decide what your dreams are and go for it, and never mind that your parents don't approve..screw them (and I say this AS a parent)...It's your life and you only get one crack at it.

If you want to pack up and move to the other side of the country or the world then do it. You have time, take advantage of it.

Life is way too short and in the end what matters is the amount of good you've done, how you've treated people, and how much fun you've had...

This thread came to me at the perfect time. Writing all this down has made me feel better. Think I'll pick my favorite DVD and watch a movie, kick back, and get a good nights sleep, because tomorrow is Monday and the game of life begins again.

Then again, I could swallow a bunch of pain killers and really chill

Let's see, is it 'The Matrix or When Harry met Sally'? Choices choices..

[cbr600f4]

I think I know what you are talking about. There have been times I have wondered what the hell I am doing on the face of this earth. Why was I picked to be here and what should I do. It only got worse when I had to think about what was to come after this life. I mean eternity is a long time!

I guess I just have to trust, as many times as I have been burned, that there are people out there like me that care about more than drugs and money. That somewhere out there people are thinking. So I guess that is what keeps me going.

I also know that it can be frustrating when good friends burn you and you cannot really relate to them. I can really think of only one true friend that I have.

But anyway back to the thread. To the person who said that you and others in this thread are ungrateful for feeling sorry for yourself...why??? Who are you to judge another's problems? When a person feels badly, they feel badly. I am sorry if you have cancer, AIDS, or another disease, it sucks, but just because you have this disease does not make you worse off than a person having another problem! Those people are having just as much trouble as you are!

Anyway, try to keep a focus on what is ahead rather than on what has been left behind. If I did not fo that I know that I would be long gone by now.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Nick

[shanraghan]

So much is in this topic that I don't know where to start! Some of you make some good points I'd like to commend, there's plenty of things I'd like to respond to, and on top of that I'm procrastinating on my homework. >.^

I personally don't think I ever quite reached a point where I felt life, as a whole, was worthless, although I have flirted with it on occasion as adolescents do. (The ladies don't go for me, so this is the best I can do. ) I guess that I just value life too much to even consider suicide or giving up. Either that or I really haven't suffered much. >.^

Regardless, I have wondered in this past year or so more than ever about our meaning or purpose in life. Before that, I just lived, or existed, or whatnot, and never really thought about anything to that effect. When I really thought about it, I came up with nothing. Literally, nothing. No universal or absolute meaning to life. And, to this day, I maintain that there is no universal or absolute meaning to life. No matter what reason is given, you can always ask another 'why?', try to delve deeper into its meaning, and you shall come up with nothing fundamental that says "you must live because of this reason."

Considering this, and the fact that life can really suck at times, I can understand why you may feel that way. Especially if you are still in school or have a job that continually sucks away your time like a black hole. >.^

But the question remains: why live?

Many of those who've posted before myself have answered the question beautifully.

The way I see it, having a reason to live is something that you cannot overanalyze without ending up back where you started. The reasons are very personal, and often seem stupid or shallow (such as mine ). In the end, you are never given any reason or purpose to live; you create that reason. You may not be able to change the world. You may not be able to change others. You can change your life and make it worth living... I think . Try thinking about it for a second, and put aside many of the barriers, restrictions and codes forced upon you by yourself and by society. You have far more freedom and are capable of far more than you realize. In theory at least. >.^

I hope I haven't been too long, self-absorbed or irrelevant and that you've been able to glean something useful from this. >.^

[Bugs Bunny]

But the question remains: why live?

<font color = red>SEX </font>

[The Dude]

Originally posted by Feathers:
<STRONG>Go ahead and kill yourselves but don't take the rest of us with you!</STRONG>

You got it bud. I'm sure those are really encouraging words for those of us with that thought on our minds a lot.

[cheerios]

Originally posted by Bugs Bunny:
<STRONG>

&lt;font color = red&gt;SEX &lt;/font&gt;</STRONG>

exclusively???

[chris_h]

Originally posted by tie
:
<STRONG>She killed herself two weeks ago but she has some great songs out there. </STRONG>

Too much irony in that... just... too much...


Anyway, I think there isn't a point to life. Not lately, anyway.

[Bugs Bunny]

Says cheerios:
exclusively???

Only Monday-Saturday. On Sunday, Rest