Instants
by Anonymous
If I were able to live my life again,
In the next I would try to commit more errors.
I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more.
I would be more foolish than I've been,
In fact, I would take few things seriously.
I would be less hygienic.
I would run more risks,
take more vacations,
contemplate more sunsets,
climb more mountains, swim more rivers.
I would go to more places where I've never been,
I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans,
I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I was one of those people that lived sensibly
and prolifically each minute of his life;
Of course I had moments of happiness.
But if I could go back I would try
to have only good moments.
Because if you didn't know, that's what life is made of,
only of moments; Don't lose the now.
I was one of those that never
went anywhere without a thermometer,
a hot-water bottle,
an umbrella, and a parachute;
If I could live again, I would travel lighter.
If I could live again,
I would begin to walk barefoot from the beginning of spring
and I would continue barefoot until autumn ends.
I would take more cart rides,
contemplate more sunrises,
and play with more children,
If I had another life ahead of me.
But you see, I am already 85,
and I know that I am dying.
---
I found this one like 10 years ago. It's always good to read it, from time to time.
Thankyou very much for sharing this David. I kind of needed it today....Thanks.
...One of those concepts we need to remind ourselves of once in a while.
Thanks, David.
thank you David.
we all need a little perspective in our lives at times.. and this is perfect for me at this moment.
Beautiful, and real. I will take note of this . thanx again.!
(you are a big softy! :smth023 )
it's great otherwise, but:
Quote from: dsanchez on May 18, 2008, 01:40:05
I would be less hygienic.
i can't find anything wrong in taking care of one's personal hygiene...
;)
Beautiful!
Really nice of you to share this ;)
Few quotes by Bill Cosby:
I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were ever supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever.
But these people, the ones up here in the balcony fought so hard. Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals. These are people going around stealing Coca Cola. People getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! And then we all run out and are outraged, 'The cops shouldn't have shot him.' What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand? (laughter and clapping). I wanted a piece of pound cake just as bad as anybody else (laughter) And I looked at it and I had no money. And something called parenting said, 'if you get caught with it you're going to embarrass your mother.' Not 'you're going to get your butt kicked.' No. 'You're going to embarrass your family.'
I'm talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was two? Where were you when he was twelve? Where were you when he was eighteen, and how come you don't know he had a pistol? And where is his father, and why don't you know where he is? And why doesn't the father show up to talk to this boy?
The church is only open on Sunday. And you can't keep asking Jesus to ask doing things for you . You can't keep asking that God will find a way. God is tired of you.
I can say what I want to. It's freedom of speech, ain't it?. We've got to take the neighborhood back. We've got to go in there. Just forget telling your child to go to the Peace Corps. It's right around the corner. It's standing on the corner. It can't speak English. It doesn't want to speak English. I can't even talk the way these people talk. "Why you ain't where you is go." I don't know who these people are. And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. Then I heard the father talk. This is all in the house. You used to talk a certain way on the corner and you got into the house and switched to English. Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't land a plane with "why you ain't...". You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth. There is no Bible that has that kind of language. Where did these people get the idea that they're moving ahead on this? Well, they know they're not, they're just hanging out in the same place, five or six generations sitting in the projects when you're just supposed to stay there long enough to get a job and move out.
Quote from: Janko on June 06, 2008, 20:52:23
the church is only open on Sunday. And you can't keep asking Jesus to ask doing things for you . You can't keep asking that God will find a way. God is tired of you.
ever since i heard this for the first time i always felt this came pretty close to my own conception of god (what is what i think it is about, actually):
Yes I am alone but then again I always was
As far back as I can tell
I think maybe it's because
Because you were never really real to begin with
I just made you up to hurt myself
I just made you up to hurt myself
--> only (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/nineinchnails/only.html)
so maybe god isn't tired, maybe it was man who was tired and that's why he came up with god in the first place...
like robert said in the tv interview for 2001 paris reservoir gig:
Q: which religion, if any, makes the most sense to you?
RS: i think if the world as a whole could outlaw religion for one year people would be really amazed how happy the place could be.
i think that religion is the worst invention of man, in history of man.
To me, it is necessary to believe in something.
Everyone has to believe in something beyond the known reality.
But to ask God to help you when you didn't do all you could is a bit daft.
So, yes, I am highly religious.
I do need to believe that things will come up OK if I do all I could do.
Or if the things go very, very wrong I do need something to grab onto...
PS
It's just the stupidity of other people that's so unpredictable...
Drivers, gun owners, politicians, ...
:) :) :)
Quote from: Janko on June 07, 2008, 00:59:39
To me, it is necessary to believe in something.
Everyone has to believe in something beyond the known reality.
But to ask God to help you when you didn't do all you could is a bit daft.
So, yes, I am highly religious.
I do need to believe that things will come up OK if I do all I could do.
Or if the things go very, very wrong I do need something to grab onto...
i don't doubt people's need to believe in something - i too do feel that sometimes, a lot of times. but i am not going to agree that everyone
has to believe in something, i only agree that in a way everyone probably does feel the need to believe in something - those are two very different things.
but nobody has to believe in something.
and so, having a need to believe in god does not prove that god existed or does not make him any more real. it's no different than people who say they believe in aliens and ufos and just because they believe so, those things must exist and be real... but are they? maybe, maybe not - but their
belief alone does
not prove it.
the conception of god, it's pretty selfish:
i feel bad and lost or i just feel like i need to believe in something in general
-> so i make him (god) up because this makes me feel better, stronger, more at ease in general
-> this very well might make me feel better for a moment - BUT after a while this turns out to be an illusion (of course)
-> and thus, in the end:
i just made you up to hurt myself = correct
ps.
Quote from: Janko on June 07, 2008, 00:59:39
I do need to believe that things will come up OK if I do all I could do.
this is believeing in yourself, your own ability to affect your life and do good - and that does not anyhow make the conception of god a necessary part of the equation at all. it is also perfectly possible to believe in yourself without having to justify this to yourself with the conception of god. imo god doesn't necessary have anything to do with that.
and actually, the idea of god is very similar to the imaginary friends that lonely kids are known to create. for those kids they are absolutely real and true persons, just ask anyone who had such an invisible friend as a kid: those kids were not talking to the empty air, they were talking to a real person that also talked back to them. and in a way you could say that god is the most popular of all imaginary friends out there.
just ask yourself why do those lonely kids create these invisible friends? because they are a necessary part of their psychological growth and development. they need something/someone on who/which to reflect their own feelings and thoughts so that they can understand their own feelings and thoughts. it's a psychological necessity: if there is no real friend available, their mind creates one.
and the way that grown ups believe in god (since it's obviously a bit daft to still have an imaginary friend at your side when your 35 or something) works very much in the similar manner: people need something to hold on to, a mirror set into distance where they can see themselves when they need to.
but i believe people still put that mirror out there with their very own hands.
Quote from: japanesebaby on June 07, 2008, 09:24:33
but i am not going to agree that everyone has to believe in something, i only agree that in a way everyone probably does feel the need to believe in something - those are two very different things.
but nobody has to believe in something.
Japanesebaby, your thoughts are amazing; everything you've said is so true and I totally agree with you! :smth023
:smth038 :smth039
hey thanks coxoxi, i'm glad to see someone out there feels like being on the same train with me. :smth006
I actually kind of envy people who are able to believe in a higher power. There have been times in my life when I've felt very alone, or felt a lack of "meaning" to my existence, and I'm sure I would have pulled through those times more easily if I'd had something like that to hang on to. But what can I do, I've always been a sceptic, and since I was 16 I started thinking that things stand exactly as jb was saying.
But I'd have no problem with people believing what they want to believe...
If only religion weren't so often used as a vehicle for hate.
Ah, there's always deathbed...
Quote from: Janko on June 08, 2008, 23:42:09
Ah, there's always deathbed...
:smth043
I've always wondered -- does that count? I don't think it should.... Too easy! :?
Quote from: Janko on June 08, 2008, 23:42:09
Ah, there's always deathbed...
so are you suggesting that people who don't believe in god could just as well go and kill themselves?
Quote from: japanesebaby on June 09, 2008, 14:31:10
Quote from: Janko on June 08, 2008, 23:42:09
Ah, there's always deathbed...
so are you suggesting that people who don't believe in god could just as well go and kill themselves?
YES!!!
Yes I Do!
:-D :-D :-D
PS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathbed_conversion
Quote from: Janko on June 09, 2008, 15:38:18
Quote from: japanesebaby on June 09, 2008, 14:31:10
Quote from: Janko on June 08, 2008, 23:42:09
Ah, there's always deathbed...
so are you suggesting that people who don't believe in god could just as well go and kill themselves?
YES!!!
Yes I Do!
:-D :-D :-D
PS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathbed_conversion
interesting theory Janko :smth044
then maybe i should kill myself? :smth005
Quote from: Janko on June 09, 2008, 15:38:18
Quote from: japanesebaby on June 09, 2008, 14:31:10
Quote from: Janko on June 08, 2008, 23:42:09
Ah, there's always deathbed...
so are you suggesting that people who don't believe in god could just as well go and kill themselves?
YES!!!
Yes I Do!
:-D :-D :-D
PS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deathbed_conversion
actually i might want to kill myself if i'd ever find myself converting like that! :eek:
but tell me Janko, why exactly should you (or anyone else) as a believer have any more reason (if not even "right") to live than me, a non-believer?
does believing into some higher power make someone a better and more valuable(?) person, more entitled to enjoy this world?
because i could just as well ask: since believers believe in the afterlife anyway, so why don't
they go ahead and kill themselves? after all, they believe they have something more coming up for them and they believe they'll still somehow keep on existing after their bodies are no more. but i don't believe so - so perhaps my life is much more precious to me than any believer's life could ever be? my life in unique, and i believe that once it'll end, it'll end. the end of story.
but believers have the eternity in mind anyway (at least that's what they believe), so why should they really worry? because even if they died they could be like "oops, i think i just died - but hey you know, so what? i'm still here!"
Quote from: japanesebaby on June 09, 2008, 18:57:22
actually i might want to kill myself if i'd ever find myself converting like that!
No japanesebaby, you didn't understand my point.
(Cheers rabiola, only you were on the spot)So last few posts went a bit a stray.
All values and the whole concept of moral originated from religion. So even if you claim you don't believe - your upbringing, education, and way of life is hugely influenced by religion. You might say that you're a rationalist and naturalist, but in the core of your day to day judgment there are things like Golden rule and "Thou shalt not...". When you get older - you'll find out that there has to be something beyond sickness, pain and death.
In a way, its like conservativism and liberalism. Everybody is liberal at young age, and as you get older and older - you become more and more conservative...
Quote from: Janko on June 10, 2008, 00:50:33
All values and the whole concept of moral originated from religion. So even if you claim you don't believe - your upbringing, education, and way of life is hugely influenced by religion. You might say that you're a rationalist and naturalist, but in the core of your day to day judgment there are things like Golden rule and "Thou shalt not...".
no, i think the concept of religion originated from a (natural?) need to be moral.
if one says it's the other way round (moral originates from religion) then it's the same as saying all people who don't believe/don't practice religion are actually immoral.
so yes, in my core there is a "thou shalt not..." - but it is not there because of religion. it's there because i'm a human being. humanity can have such high moral values without the help of the concept of god. "god" is merely a mirror there in the distance.
Quote from: Janko on June 10, 2008, 00:50:33
When you get older - you'll find out that there has to be something beyond sickness, pain and death.
hmm. i don't understand why growing older would change my mind on this. it almost sounds to me like you were saying "when you get older you will become afraid of dying and feel the panic as you realize your existence is coming to an end and then you WILL grab that last straw, last chance, like a drowning man... and you will become a believer".
like said in the thread above, i also sometimes envy people who do believe. but still, that doesn't make me want to believe too: because that would be cheating myself, believing just because "it makes me feel better". and that's a completely wrong reason to believe (in god). and that's also the best proof that god was created by man for his own enjoyment and should i even say "entertainment": since it's something that makes existing more bearable - just like drinking and doing drugs for some people....
Quote from: Janko on June 10, 2008, 00:50:33
In a way, its like conservativism and liberalism. Everybody is liberal at young age, and as you get older and older - you become more and more conservative...
actually, this isn't true at all. you can say it might be common but it's not like it's a law or something. i know many people who've been very very conservative on early age but became something different when they grew up and realized that things are not quite like that at all. actually, some of them they were very relieved about their revelation.
so all i'm saying is that one annot generalize this kind of thing.
one cannot say believing is a necessity or something that precedes morality/humanity.
it's more like a product of morality: it's just a way of conceptualizing it all, putting it in an organizational form, and in the end institutionalizing(!) it.
what i dont' deny is the religions' effect on our culture - that is huge indeed... even to the point that one could say there is no culture without religion. i am very aware of this and always have been as i work with music and arts. but that's still not the same as saying that religion precedes moral/morality. our culture, education, society... it's heavily based on/connected with this "moral that got institutionalized" (=religion), but that doesn't mean religion is the source of all things. because religion was born/created out of something - and THAT something the real core of all things. and that's inside us whether or not we believe in god and religion or whether we don't.
by the way, another point of view...
...I WENT OUT OF MY WAY TO GET THIS BAD
AND YOU STILL DON'T GET HOW FAR
BUT NOW I'M BACK! I'M NEW!
AND IT'S A WONDERFUL THING
BUT YOU STILL DON'T GET HOW THINGS ARE...
NOT SUPERSTITION - I'M TALKING HIDEOUS KINKY
NO NOT RELIGION - I'M TALKING SERIOUS OOBE
NOT SCIENCE FICTION - I'M TALKING HORRIBLE FREAKY
YEAH ALL THE STUFF YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN
WELL THAT STUFF IS FOR REAL
GOT MYSELF A CHANGE OF LIFE
GOT MYSELF A CHANGE OF STYLE
GOT MYSELF A NEW DIRECTION
GOT MYSELF A REASON WHY
I JUST FELL RIGHT OUT OF MY FACE ONE DAY
AND I TOOK IT AS A SIGN FROM GOD...
(of course depending on how one decides to read it. anyway.)