Life - How Should It Be Viewed?

[Vlad Drkulec]

Hi Vlad:

In my life analysis, I allow for two things:

1. The bigger than life "Hero" - Yup, it is the original three episodes of Star Wars. And I, my wife, and two kids when young, spent many hours curled up in our bed, with the TV at the foot of the bed, popcorn in hand, watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And yes, I believe that even a very ordinary person may be fated to become a leader in time of crisis. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

2. The below-the-radar "little hero" - there are many of these in life; I have been fortunate enough to have met a number. They look around, see someone in great difficulty, perhaps not due to anything they have done (Just random that's the way it is), and go much out of their way to help. Again, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Bob A (Muddling through my time)

Both Luke Skywalker and Frodo Baggins and earlier Bilbo Baggins of the Hobbit were all below-the-radar :"little heroes" at the beginning of the adventures that made them big heroes. The Lord of the Rings books along with the Hobbit seemed to me to be greatly superior to the movies. I didn't even watch the subsequent series because of the reviews, though I can watch it free on Amazon Prime. Time always seems short even to watch the things that I want to watch. It doesn't help when you schedule too many things with sometimes overlapping schedules.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Vlad:

In my life analysis, I allow for two things:

1. The bigger than life "Hero" - Yup, it is the original three episodes of Star Wars. And I, my wife, and two kids when young, spent many hours curled up in our bed, with the TV at the foot of the bed, popcorn in hand, watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. And yes, I believe that even a very ordinary person may be fated to become a leader in time of crisis. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

2. The below-the-radar "little hero" - there are many of these in life; I have been fortunate enough to have met a number. They look around, see someone in great difficulty, perhaps not due to anything they have done (Just random that's the way it is), and go much out of their way to help. Again, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Bob A (Muddling through my time)

[Vlad Drkulec]

It seems that you have subconsciously realized that DM cannot deal with reality, but you have chosen to dream about unreal fantasy, rather than sensibly accepting the truth!

Well Bob A seems to be obsessed with two instances of the Hero's Journey as set forth in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and the George Lucas Star Wars original trilogy and perhaps the first three sequels. Now it is not just an unreal fantasy but the structure of most successful stories.

I have been interested for many years and have probably read and explored these ideas endlessly having read as many as fifty or sixty books on these and related topics in addition to the courses that I have done recently and over the years.

[Dilip Panjwani]

CT News Alert!

How to approach our present lives?

Today, 25/2/2

CT has just learned that Sauron and the Evil Emperor have just joined forces. They have initiated deadly multi-faceted attacks...the goal is Multi-Verse domination.

The Rebel Alliance (Including the New Regiment Jedi) are again retreating to the frozen planet, Hoth [the sixth planet in the remote Hoth system, located in the Anoat sector of the Outer Rim Territories], to re-group & plan counter-measures.



On the positive side, Astrologers have advised that the Age of Aquarius [An age of enlightenment and spiritual development] awaits us on the other side of the present chaos [Which may yet get worse, before being brought to an end].

Grapple your Hope/Optimism to your hearts with hoops of steel.

Don't let the b*stards get you down!

Remember..........you heard it first here on CT News!!

Bob A (CTN Reporter)

It seems that you have subconsciously realized that DM cannot deal with reality, but you have chosen to dream about unreal fantasy, rather than sensibly accepting the truth!

[Bob Armstrong]

CT News Alert!

How to approach our present lives?

Today, 25/2/2

CT has just learned that Sauron and the Evil Emperor have just joined forces. They have initiated deadly multi-faceted attacks...the goal is Multi-Verse domination.

The Rebel Alliance (Including the New Regiment Jedi) are again retreating to the frozen planet, Hoth [the sixth planet in the remote Hoth system, located in the Anoat sector of the Outer Rim Territories], to re-group & plan counter-measures.



On the positive side, Astrologers have advised that the Age of Aquarius [An age of enlightenment and spiritual development] awaits us on the other side of the present chaos [Which may yet get worse, before being brought to an end].

Grapple your Hope/Optimism to your hearts with hoops of steel.

Don't let the b*stards get you down!

Remember..........you heard it first here on CT News!!

Bob A (CTN Reporter)

[Dilip Panjwani]

Private Life in relation to World Affairs

The Microcosm

We cannot exist in a bubble, no matter how attractive this may be, and cozy.

Our life definitely is one microcosm; but microcosm's are affected by the issues in the macrocosm. Some refuse to accept this....isolationism rules!

I can only warn that it will eventually come to bite you! Biblically, the quote is: Stay awake! You know not the day nor the hour of the Bridegroom's arrival. It applies to both the good,,,,,,and the bad.

The Macrocosm

Politically, in recent years, we have experienced the rise of the right. The recent re-election in the USA of the Republican Party government/Donald Trump Presidency continues this trend.

There is certainly legitimacy to both centre right and centre left (Though perhaps not the corresponding economics). But the Microcosm, as shown by history, has not done well under either extreme right or extreme left (I personally do not place Democratic Marxism among the extreme left of politics, though this is disputed).

My point is not to plump one politics over another. It is simply to recognize that politics, and depending on the nation, can create great problems for those of us attempting to live a "good microcosm". In fact it can be so disheartening re human nature, to lead one to want to despair, even while attempting to hide, and live the good life, within our microcosm.

Hope

Look around at your family and close friends........do you see a general character of love in your life events with them? Do you feel you express true love regularly?



It is this "love" in the microcosm which founds our "hope" for the macrocosm in darker times.

Mother Teresa, who spent her life helping the poor of society, taught (And this is not necessarily out of her own personal "Religion"; it is secular in nature):

"Do not be overwhelmed by the negative statistics re the world's problems.

Just look close around you..........is there someone you can help? Is there someplace you can help?"

There is sometimes great benefit to just beetling along under the radar, doing your own thing!

Bob A (Hopefully, a "realistic optimist")

You make a very valid point, Bob A, that Microcosm is where love thrives and charity begins...
and in a Libertarian society, the key ingredients of Macrocosm are enforcement of the Natural Law and 'co-operation' to build bigger and better, not the majority bossing over the minority, like the not-so-wealthy majority forcing the wealthy minority to pay humongous taxes!
In other forms of government, while the taxation occurs, the absence of enforcement of the Natural Law makes the wealthy minority collude with the politicians to enable themselves to exploit the not-so-wealthy majority, and the result is a society where 'wrongs' become the norm, and as everyone knows, two wrongs cancelling each other can never be as satisfying as one right...

[Bob Gillanders]

Thanks Bob A.
Too much time in the macrocosm can be toxic these days.
In modern parlance the phrase is "step away from the keyboard"

Instead of youtube videos on politics, I try comedy, SCTV, Monty Python, etc.
Much more relaxing. Signing off for hopefully another week, relaxing in my own microcosm.

Peace, goodwill and all that stuff. Later.

[Bob Armstrong]

Private Life in relation to World Affairs

The Microcosm

We cannot exist in a bubble, no matter how attractive this may be, and cozy.

Our life definitely is one microcosm; but microcosm's are affected by the issues in the macrocosm. Some refuse to accept this....isolationism rules!

I can only warn that it will eventually come to bite you! Biblically, the quote is: Stay awake! You know not the day nor the hour of the Bridegroom's arrival. It applies to both the good,,,,,,and the bad.

The Macrocosm

Politically, in recent years, we have experienced the rise of the right. The recent re-election in the USA of the Republican Party government/Donald Trump Presidency continues this trend.

There is certainly legitimacy to both centre right and centre left (Though perhaps not the corresponding economics). But the Microcosm, as shown by history, has not done well under either extreme right or extreme left (I personally do not place Democratic Marxism among the extreme left of politics, though this is disputed).

My point is not to plump one politics over another. It is simply to recognize that politics, and depending on the nation, can create great problems for those of us attempting to live a "good microcosm". In fact it can be so disheartening re human nature, to lead one to want to despair, even while attempting to hide, and live the good life, within our microcosm.

Hope

Look around at your family and close friends........do you see a general character of love in your life events with them? Do you feel you express true love regularly?



It is this "love" in the microcosm which founds our "hope" for the macrocosm in darker times.

Mother Teresa, who spent her life helping the poor of society, taught (And this is not necessarily out of her own personal "Religion"; it is secular in nature):

"Do not be overwhelmed by the negative statistics re the world's problems.

Just look close around you..........is there someone you can help? Is there someplace you can help?"

There is sometimes great benefit to just beetling along under the radar, doing your own thing!

Bob A (Hopefully, a "realistic optimist")

[Bob Armstrong]

A Good Life Agenda?

1. The number one priority is to maintain your mental health; without it, all else diminishes.

2. Keep to priorities in handling a job and ordinary life tasks, and try not to fall too far behind. This can generate a good sense of competence.

3. Support, to the extent possible, family & friends.

4. Maintain an active personal life agenda, including time with friends, a "Cause Project" (Societal Contribution) and time spent on a passionate hobby (If you don't have one, find one!)



Bob

[Dilip Panjwani]

'If there is no heaven, what is the point of existing at all?'
This is the notion which makes one believe in all sorts of baseless theories imagining a Heaven high up in the sky or somewhere.
However, as the this guy on Quora Digest explains, there is another way, in which you remain firmly grounded in reality and yet be contented:

Scott Welch
·
Follow
I exist. One day I won't.Updated 1y


If there is no heaven, what is the point of existing at all?
You know, there’s a poem I read over 40 years ago, and it has a line which has stuck with me for all these years:

So instead of getting to Heaven, at last – I’m going, all along.

If you make a great life for yourself and the people and community around you, you can have heaven every single day


(And the definition of a great life is 'whatever your life is...all life is great for the person living it!)

[Pargat Perrer]

Hi Pargat:

Nice post with greater elaboration.....there are a number of your statements that I agree with.......I'll specify, since I fundamentally don't accept your "Soul Plan/Suffering" Theology, but wish to get your package right.

I'm playing a weekend chess tournament this weekend, out of Toronto.

I'll respond some time next week.......I find our discussion of your theology most interesting......from lack of comments, except Dilip's somewhat rote atheist responses, though, I'm not sure any other CT'ers care....there comes hence only "crickets" (= silence).

Bob A (Theist)

Hey Bob A, I just watched this video explaining much better than I did the soul planning process ... its about 31 minutes long and chock full of information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JjydDsDdLY

[Pargat Perrer]

Even the nasty troll PP finally gets it !!

Ok, there we have it.

An outright admission that a LIbertarian Natural Law elected government will, in its jurisdiction, TOTALLY ELIMINATE BY FORCE all fossil fuel use on the basis of Natural Law.

Dilip hasn't wanted to confess to this, but I managed to get him to unwittingly admit it.

[Dilip Panjwani]

You hint in your statement that Trudeau's carbon tax is a sensible thing ... a step in the right direction in the Libertarian policy to eliminate fossil fuels entirely

Even the nasty troll PP finally gets it !!

[Pargat Perrer]

The hallmark of a nasty troll applies very well to you: Tell lies about someone and then laugh at those lies!
Even the most climate anxious person does not want to outlaw fossil fuels. On the other hand, as I have mentioned here before, in keeping with Libertarian values, Justin Trudeau has introduced the Carbon tax (the only sensible thing he has done in his tenure) ...

It doesn't matter who wants or doesn't want to outlaw fossil fuels. What matters is the integrity of your Libertarian proclamations that that any violation of Natural Law will be enforced. Since fossil fuels provably harm people, any Libertarian government MUST enforce cessation of all use of fossil fuels, or else they are lying scum ...

the very kind of lying scum you criticize here day in and day out, because YOU are the nasty troll ... and YOU are the liar.

And you can't fall back on your infamous "fair competition" exception to Natural Law, because you defined "fair" as meaning "not using any method to harm others." Fossil fuels provably harm others, therefore fails the "fair" clause.

so ... enforcement of Natural Law means no more use of fossil fuels. Doesn't matter who wants or doesn't want that, it is Libertarian Natural Law policy ... if they have any integrity. LOL

You even hint at this in your statement that Trudeau's carbon tax is a sensible thing ... merely a step in the right direction in the Libertarian policy to eliminate fossil fuels entirely ... again, if they have any integrity.

[Dilip Panjwani]

No such realization, no such evidence. Still a lot of laughter, the guy claiming such evidence exists also claims Libertarianism will enforce Naturel Law but does not support outlawing fossil fuels, which violate Natural Law even under the meaningless "fair competition" clause.

So yeah ... there's gotta be a lot of people laughing at you, Dilip.

The hallmark of a nasty troll applies very well to you: Tell lies about someone and then laugh at those lies!
Even the most climate anxious person does not want to outlaw fossil fuels. On the other hand, as I have mentioned here before, in keeping with Libertarian values, Justin Trudeau has introduced the Carbon tax (the only sensible thing he has done in his tenure) ...