NationStates Jolt Archive

Pretty basic question.

I know there's a lot of unhappy people on NSG, I was just curious as to what keeps you guys going. Do you have one focus in life? Is it a family member, child, activity?

Or list some joys out of life.

For me it's driving and riding motorcycles. Pretty selfish, but hey, that's me. :)

I'm an avid photographer, but it doesn't necessarily keep me going. Life is worth living without anything extra.

Oh and I'm going to take this opportunity to illustrate this point and myself...

http://photos-g.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-snc1/v2128/41/32/1569360021/n1569360021_30060678_6621.jpg

4chan keeps my faith in humanity going.

Playing games and working on my friend making abilities i suppose. maybe considering my eternal soul or not eternal soul and other philosophical things on occasion.
maybe there's more to it than that but that's all i can think of at 1am. I might go into a bit more detail later.

4chan keeps my faith in humanity going.

Really? I must be doing it wrong...

caffeine/sugar.

looks at op, o that kind of keeps you going.
erh, annoying others? nah the hope/belief that humanity can overcome its baser desires and find some sort of peace. o and the possibility of space travel.

Really? I must be doing it wrong...

http://www.slapyo.com/wp-content/wrong02.jpg

Killing people.

Faith. Not religious faith, but the belief that, some day, I'll achieve an absence of pain or worry. Not ataraxia exactly, but something like it.

Being annoyingly right about everything all the time - even when I'm wrong.

The pursuit of liberty

To me, my life is only as meaningful as the story it leaves behind. The only demand existence makes of me is to write that story, and the only thing I leave behind of any value is the impact and content of that story.

What keeps me going is the fact that my story has only now really established my characters and setting. If I were to stop here, my artistic temperament would not be happy with it.

For me there's several ways I can keep myself going when down:

Method the first: humour. No matter how depressed I am I can usually drag myself out of it by making gallows humour/black comedy out of it. If I just need to stop thinking about a particular issue, I often just think of a word, create potential awful puns involving the word, then from associated words etc to keep my mind ticking over for as long as it takes the issue to retreat to the back of my mind where it can be processed rationally rather than causing dangerous stress levels.

Method the second: music. Fast and angry (tries to resist urge to do a 'thats how I like my men' joke) is good for relieving stress, as is music that is amusing, or particularly over the top and eccentric.

Method the third: a support network. On most issues, I talk with family members or friends and try and get a second opinion when I am indecisive, or look for suggestions I haven't thought of to solve a problem. I also have contacts online with people who have similar issues going on in their lives to myself, and can run things by them also.

Humour, friendship, music, literature, creativity and hope.

My 2 year old Siamese.

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/50/l_6a110029b95b4e88b8f51ee0fa6fb455.jpg

That and my Pagan faith.

1. I like my classes at college. I've got an entire semester to read Heidegger's Being and Time with one of the most brilliant teachers I've ever met.
2. I work with kids. It is fun, and I'm actually appreciated at my job.
3. I still haven't written anything good enough to get me remembered yet. I don't need anything really amazing, but a novel or collection of poems that will become insanely popular for a brief time after I go on a killing spree.
4. Normally movies are my fourth pillar, because there's normally something coming out in a couple months that I want to be around to see. Right now I've only got The Watchmen and the last Futurama movie, which isn't doing very much for will to live. Fortunately, there is 1-3 on my list.
5. Alcohol. Not just drinking in general, but before I die I need to get together some cash and buy a bottle of something (wine, port, liquor, whatever) pre-1986. I don't know why, but I've got this weird idea about drinking something that was bottled before I was conceived.

Knowing that my Christian faith is far superior to Wilgrove's pagan faith. ;)

Knowing that my Christian faith is far superior to Wilgrove's pagan faith. ;)

Knowing that my agnosticism is much more rational than either.

(although I find most Pagans much gentler and more tolerant than most Christians).

money. And my belief in a better world.

Knowing that my agnosticism is much more rational than either.

(although I find most Pagans much gentler and more tolerant than most Christians).

you do know there is nothing objectively more rational in belief in nothing than belief in something yes?

A morbid fear of death, and a lack of anything better to do.

Hockey.

And books.

The fear of offing myself keeps me going.

you do know there is nothing objectively more rational in belief in nothing than belief in something yes?

Agnosticism is not belief in nothing. It is the very rational position that we don't have enough information - i.e. "I don't know if God(s) exist or not. Truth be told, neither do you."

Agnosticism is not belief in nothing. It is the very rational position that we don't have enough information - i.e. "I don't know if God(s) exist or not. Truth be told, neither do you."

my point is lack of a faith or religion is not more rational than having said faith.

my point is lack of a faith or religion is not more rational than having said faith.

How is faith, which is based on a combination of strongly held opinion and wishful thinking, as rational as saying, "I don't have enough information to have an opinion?"

Knowing that my Christian faith is far superior to Wilgrove's pagan faith. ;)

Hey, when was the last time a Christian had services in skyclad?

Never, that's when! ;)

Knowing that my Christian faith is far superior to Wilgrove's pagan faith. ;)

You know, I have found that when someone feels the need to profess, in public, how secure he is in something, it's usually proof positive of just the opposite

I know this sounds generic, but my wife and soon-to-be son are what pretty much keeps me sane in this life.

10 years ago I don't think I ever would have said that sentence.

Sweetest nicotine and alcohol, mainly.

3. I still haven't written anything good enough to get me remembered yet. I don't need anything really amazing, but a novel or collection of poems that will become insanely popular for a brief time after I go on a killing spree.

My work is extremely popular as judged by its sales, and I didn't have to go on a killing spree.

Of course, when I got to the afterlife, they explained that 98% of the sales of my books are for either kitsch value or gag gifts.

Now I wish I'd gone on the killing spree...

You know, I have found that when someone feels the need to profess, in public, how secure he is in something, it's usually proof positive of just the opposite

I'd make a joke about you being the Jew who claims to have a 14 inch penis, but the last time I did that, it ended with us being tossed out of Denny's with you yelling "Use your senses to rationally observe my crotch, your reason to calculate its stature, and your purpose driven ego to SUCK MY--"

And we never did figure out if that was just ranch from the mozza sticks...

Sheer, bloody-minded, obstinance.

The look on all your faces when you see how everything ends. :)

Alcohol

The look on all your faces when you see how everything ends. :)

It ends with all of us naked covered in mud doesn't it?

It ends with all of us naked covered in mud doesn't it?

Many of you will also be holding traumatized crotches.

It ends with all of us naked covered in mud doesn't it?

No that was how it all started

No that was how it all started

I can't take credit for that.

I can't take credit for that.

Why not? Go on, you know you want to

Many of you will also be holding traumatized crotches.

Will there at least be tacos?

Will there at least be tacos?

Well, of course there will. :)

Why not? Go on, you know you want to

I can't. I had help. :)

Many of you will also be holding traumatized crotches.

Not me I have no crotch left, since I am married and all.

No that was how it all started

And I believe it shall end the same way...

My work is extremely popular as judged by its sales, and I didn't have to go on a killing spree.
Oh, I'm not talking real popularity. I'm talking 50 second fad stuff, like that Vagina Tech kid got for his crappy play. Except I'll be a decent writer, and Stephen King will be able to take his moral statements and shove them up the same asshole that roughly 1/2 of his novels came from.
Of course, when I got to the afterlife, they explained that 98% of the sales of my books are for either kitsch value or gag gifts.

Now I wish I'd gone on the killing spree...
A sale is a sale is a sale is a sale is a sale is a sale is A=A.

Well, of course there will. :)

Well, in that case, I guess it's worth sticking around. :)

The same thing that makes me want to leave this world.
Emotions.

In my younger years I did try to overcome the basic instinct to live,
but I soon realized that to experience are sometimes worth more than to not experience things.
Sometimes.

Humor,curiosity,love, are things that often make it worth it.
If only those things did not come along so seldom.

I enjoy debating. On-line or at the club at university.

I also like movies, TV, and computer games, especially strategy/tactical games.

My insecurities that demand I do things better than everyone else combined with the assumption that everyone is doing better than I am, no matter how good of a job I did.

At least I'm honest. <_<

"To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the limitations of their women."

That, and coffee.

Lately, this.

http://toddisrad.com/resources/La+Fin+Du+Monde.jpg

Lately, this.

http://toddisrad.com/resources/La+Fin+Du+Monde.jpg

that is one of the best beers I have ever tasted in my life....

that is one of the best beers I have ever tasted in my life....

I usually go for darker ales but it is pretty damned tasty.

I usually go for darker ales but it is pretty damned tasty.

same here, but damn it is a tasty brew. I need to get myself some ASAP.

same here, but damn it is a tasty brew. I need to get myself some ASAP.

Lucky me, they just started stocking it at a local grocery store. They also just started stocking beer from the brewery that's here in town, so I always have some tough choices to make when buying booze.

The infinite amount of stupid things that I can laugh at. :p

The idea that one day, everybody will pay.

Lately, this.

http://toddisrad.com/resources/La+Fin+Du+Monde.jpg

That beer punches me in the chin and takes my lunch money. Leaving me drunk. And without lunch.

The idea that one day, everybody will pay.

I never had you down as a supporter of higher taxation, rusty :p

If I can make one person smile, if I can give that critical piece of advice that helps someone cope with their problem, if I can bring just one tiny little bit of light into someone's life with something I say or do; I consider it worth going on.

What keeps me going in life...
Mainly breathing, eating and drinking, but some other factors will probably play a role as well.

...the hopes I have in where I spend eternity. Life is, for me, a means to an end.

My faith in Jesus

I'm about to write about it now, very theraputic writing about my own problems, just for 15 minutes every day for 4 days.

video Games

What keeps you going in life?
Pretty basic question.

I know there's a lot of unhappy people on NSG, I was just curious as to what keeps you guys going. Do you have one focus in life? Is it a family member, child, activity?

Or list some joys out of life.

For me it's driving and riding motorcycles. Pretty selfish, but hey, that's me.

My belief that the world can only progress once the last arrogant president has been strangled with entrails of the last libertarian :D

Oh wait, that's what makes daydreaming at work pleasant...

Probably two things. Religion, and my future aims to work in archaeology. Both allow me to serve something greater and more important than any selfish (not in the judgemental, but in the literal sense) aim or target, and allow me to keep my life very tightly focused toward an ultimate goal. I could survive without them, but they give my life a single clear direction, and allow me to tolerate sacrifices and hardships that would otherwise begin to get me down.

Faith. Any challenge I can face it. When you are driving through Hell don't slow down, floor it!

My faith in Jesus

lulz.

The fact that I've got maybe 20-30 years left (my family is very long-lived) and I don't want to waste it on senility and dementia.

Trying to figure out how to make the most wonderful girl in the whole world happier.

Coincidentally the main thing that makes me ebullient also creates my depressions. I suppose that's what keeps me going; it's where my life comes from, or a lot of it these days. And strangely, I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

curiosity. seeing whats over the next hill and around the next bend.
that's what keeps me wanting to remain alive until i'm dead.
and i know i can't trust corporate media to give it to me either.

which is why i almost never turn on the tv. because they almost never show any place interesting unless something unfortunate happens there. i think this is crap for it to be that way. not that pandering to me would sell any more post toasties that i don't buy anyway.

so the best way to see anything real is to be out there in it seeing it from the ground where it is.

the next best thing, when i can't, which is most the time i can't walk there, is surfing the photo archives and other FREE places on this internet. and screw search engines who'se (exactly bassackwards) idea of 'relivence' is someone trying to sell something.

not sure. trying to make it better, i guess, and hope that it will get there.

The knowledge that I'm doing what I want to do, regardless of the wisdom of those decisions. For all the jokes about beautiful, unique snowflakes, I truly believe that most people are happy because they're carving their own little paths through the fields of life.

People who want life to end are the ones that are stalled and lost. As long as you're moving forward, inspiration will occur to you.

Life is an adventure. I want new experiences.

Family, faith, NSG, caffeine, and games. In that order.

The youthful optimism in this thread is sickening. You're all going to die, having made no appreciable difference in the world. Recognise the futility of your existence, dammit!

But that's the best part of it all! We're free to screw up, because no matter how badly we bork our personal lives, we can never destroy mankind any more than the internet has already managed.

Seriously, aliens are going to hop onto /b/, get blasted by a picture of Futa or something weird, and decide to blacklist Earth for all time.

"To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and hear the limitations of their women."

That, and coffee.

What kind of limitations are we talking about? :p

The youthful optimism in this thread is sickening. You're all going to die, having made no appreciable difference in the world. Recognise the futility of your existence, dammit!

lol so?
If my existance is futile to you, so what? My existance to me is everything i've ever known in that sense my existance is great. Also depends on who you measure yourself to.

Breasts.

I think that I might keep going because I like my friends, my family, want to see how my brother and sister turn out after having me as their big brother.
:p
I'm also inclined to see what I manage to do with the years of life that I have left - I'm also looking very much forward to seeing somebody paste a huge poster of a fly to the big wooden walls around a condemned building that state "NO FLY POSTERS"... gosh... can't wait for that, will have to do it myself sometime hah.

Also... smex.

Family, faith, NSG, caffeine, and games. In that order.

Are you suggesting that the deep, meaningful, life changing conversations you have here at NSG are more important than your god? :$

Are you suggesting that the deep, meaningful, life changing conversations you have here at NSG are more important than your god? :$

Depends if they meant ascending or descending when they said "in that order".
=P

There are a few people here intelligent enough to qualify for deity status in my mind.

Depends on which religion they feel like being loved under, I guess.

Depends if they meant ascending or descending when they said "in that order".
=P

In that case....

Are you suggesting that the deep, meaningful, life changing conversations you have here at NSG are more important than caffeine? :$

Things that keep me going...my kids are a big one. Not only do they need me alive, they need me sane, healthy, and content. That's a major motivation. GoG...he has been an incredible motivator during times when I just wanted to give in. My family, my community...the ties and responsibilities I have to them. Music, the wind, bacon, gin, steak bleu rare...life keeps me going. It's amazing, even when it's terrible. I honestly think I get one shot at it as me, and I don't really want to waste it.

The Necromancer who keeps reanimating me.

Are you suggesting that the deep, meaningful, life changing conversations you have here at NSG are more important than your god? :$

No, I'm saying NSG is more important than caffiene, but less so than my God. And "Deep, meaningful, life-changing conversation"? What forum are you going to?:p

In that case....

Only slightly, it was a tough choice.:D

Forward momentum.

Just one crazy moment while the dice are cast,
he looks into the future and remembers
what is past,
wonders what he's doing on this battlefield,
shrugs to his shadow, impatient,
too proud yet to kneel.

In his wake he leaves scorched earth
and work in vain;
smoke drifts up behind him - he is free again,
free to run before the onslaught of a deadly foe,
leaving nothing fit for pillage,
hardly leaving home.
It's far too late to turn, unless it's to stone.
Charging madly forward, tracks across the snow,
wind screams madness to him, ever on he goes
leaving spoor to mark his passage,
trace his weary climb.
Cross the moor and make the headland -
stumbling, wayward, blind.
In the end his footprints extend as one single line.

This latest exponent of heresy is goaded
into an attack,
persuaded to charge at his enemy.
Too late, he knows it is, too late now
to turn back,
too soon by far to falter.
The past sits uneasily at his rear,
he's walking right into the trap,
surrounded, but striving through will and fear.
Ahead of him he knows there waits an ambuscade
but the dice slip through his fingers
and he's living from day to day,
carrying his world around upon his back,
leaving nothing behind but the tell-tale
of his track.

He will not be hostage, he will not be slave,
no snare of past can trap him,
though the future may.
Still he runs and burns behind him
in advanced retreat;
still his life remains unfettered -
he denies defeat.
It's far too late to turn, unless it's to stone.
Leave the past to burn - at least
that's been his own.

Scorched earth, that's all that's
left when he's done;
holding nothing but beholden to no-one,
claiming nothing, out of no false pride,
he survives.
Snow tracks are all that's left to be seen
of a man who entered the course of a dream,
claiming nothing but the life he's known
- this, at least, has been his own.

Van Der Graaf Generator's "Scorched Earth" about sums it up.

My dog. Because he is so misbehaved, no one else would ever take care of him. And I love him. (:

Second, music. Good concerts and feeling of solidarity you get.

Third, the hope that one day I might have a job I don't hate.

i cant wait to move to france, .......get a new pianola, and live a long and happy life with my partner and my little boy max (yorkshire terrier). obviously i want my family to have health wealth and happiness....as this goes without saying!!

if i get rich......i would like a country estate in germany and a riad in fez, but thats wishfull thinking.....or someone dear to me has to depart this earth ......and i dont want these as a replacement.....so i'll stick with the first list....lol

i cant wait to move to france, .......get a new pianola, and live a long and happy life with my partner and my little boy max (yorkshire terrier). obviously i want my family to have health wealth and happiness....as this goes without saying!!

if i get rich......i would like a country estate in germany and a riad in fez, but thats wishfull thinking.....or someone dear to me has to depart this earth ......and i dont want these as a replacement.....so i'll stick with the first list....lol

You are the first person that mentioned wealth.

I think. Interesting nonetheless. Then again I wouldn't think that NSG would be too worried about money... just seems that way.


That's some good shit guys, keep 'em coming. I was kind of down when I made this post, but it's good to see what others cherish; it brings new light to what I really have.

Fear of oblivion

The chance that my next meal might be a curry

The many-faceted, natural and man-made beauty of the universe (i.e. "looking at loadsa shit")

The youthful optimism in this thread is sickening. You're all going to die, having made no appreciable difference in the world. Recognise the futility of your existence, dammit!

Oh, yes. Infuriating people who want me to be "realistic" is always fun. It's another thing that keeps me going.

sappy as it sounds Jim keeps me going. I have had alot of medical issues the past few years, some pretty serious and being with him and knowing he is here for me keep me going. Also I love to watch the antics of my crazy cat and being able to live where we do and enjoy the beautiful scenery *when we aren't ass deep in snow* :)

Pretty basic question.

I know there's a lot of unhappy people on NSG, I was just curious as to what keeps you guys going. Do you have one focus in life? Is it a family member, child, activity?

Or list some joys out of life.

For me it's driving and riding motorcycles. Pretty selfish, but hey, that's me. :)

Passion.

Pretty basic question.

I know there's a lot of unhappy people on NSG, I was just curious as to what keeps you guys going. Do you have one focus in life? Is it a family member, child, activity?

Or list some joys out of life.

For me it's driving and riding motorcycles. Pretty selfish, but hey, that's me. :)

Little dudes, science / information, potential turned kinetic, some peculiar concept of love, music, concentrated fruit bars, stalking ... hmmm, dunno. Now that i've put it all into perspective, it's kinda lost its luster. I'm gonna have to rethink it all.

Passion.Erm ...
http://www.raw-tcsd.com/stewart%20rod%20passion391.jpg
...?
*le eek*

My dog. Because he is so misbehaved, no one else would ever take care of him. And I love him. (:

Second, music. Good concerts and feeling of solidarity you get.

Third, the hope that one day I might have a job I don't hate.How'd you manage that nation name?
And, good luck on the third one. I recommend the red-light industry.

Erm ...
http://www.raw-tcsd.com/stewart%20rod%20passion391.jpg
...?
*le eek*

Straughn is back!!! THAT keeps me going!!!:fluffle:

Straughn is back!!! THAT keeps me going!!!:fluffle:
And going ... and GOING ... and GOING AND GOING AND *pants*
W00t!
:hail:

Seriously though, enough about the hot phenolphthalein toddies.
Any infections you need me to lap at for a while? :p

Little dudes, science / information, potential turned kinetic, some peculiar concept of love, music, concentrated fruit bars, stalking ... hmmm, dunno. Now that i've put it all into perspective, it's kinda lost its luster. I'm gonna have to rethink it all.Okay, i've rethunk it. I appallingly left out blueberry-pomegranate juice.
And the hot intelligent posters here on NS.

Seriously though, enough about the hot phenolphthalein toddies.
Any infections you need me to lap at for a while? :p

Let us go into my *office* and talk.:tongue:

No, seriously, how have you, your missus and the little dudes been?

Existence. Life. Being. Until it's all over, there's no point stopping.

My 2 year old Siamese.

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/50/l_6a110029b95b4e88b8f51ee0fa6fb455.jpg

That and my Pagan faith.

Adorable kitteh!

I don't know. I just persevere.

My 2 year old Siamese.

http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/50/l_6a110029b95b4e88b8f51ee0fa6fb455.jpg

That and my Pagan faith.

Nya Nya, Neko-chama!:D

Just living really, I really do quite enjoy it!

Masturbating.

Let us go into my *office* and talk.:tongue: W00t!

No, seriously, how have you, your missus and the little dudes been?Tired. The dudes are very, very different from each other. The more demonic of the two, naturally, is *definitely* my boy, and is already engaging most of the "character" traits i "have".
And, on occasion, sleep.
But they like my guitar playing. Well, no accounting for taste.
That, and it's cold here. When it isn't unseasonably warm, that is. And, one of our local volcanoes is about ready to go off again and everyone's freaking out about it. It'd be my fourth volcanic eruption to deal with (yes, i mean the geologic sense)

Howzabout you?

Masturbating.Helping!

W00t!

*plays Closer, by NIN and closes her office door*
:fluffle:

You knows I kid.

Tired. The dudes are very, very different from each other. The more demonic of the two, naturally, is *definitely* my boy, and is already engaging most of the "character" traits i "have".
And, on occasion, sleep.
But they like my guitar playing. Well, no accounting for taste.
That, and it's cold here. When it isn't unseasonably warm, that is. And, one of our local volcanoes is about ready to go off again and everyone's freaking out about it. It'd be my fourth volcanic eruption to deal with (yes, i mean the geologic sense)

Kids are, indeed, a full-time job. Best of luck in raising them. I'm sure both you and your wife will do fine. Patience, my young Jedi buddy.

Howzabout you?

I'm good. Working too much, living too little. But the work got more exciting if a bit more hard. Even so, I have more responsibilities and I love it, especially the antique furniture restoration.