From: Amara Graps (amara@amara.com)
Date: Wed Jun 13 2001 - 17:10:19 MDT
From: "Robert J. Bradbury" <bradbury@aeiveos.com>:
>So the question comes down to what supports you or gives
>you the greatest pleasure until you find out how the lottery
^^^^^^^
>is going to turn out?
Until??
It sounds like you are compromising.
Don't you think that a more fulfilling approach to life is
to *always* act to bring oneself the greatest pleasure? I don't
mean narcisism- it's much more basic than that.
Acting to bring oneself the greatest pleasure is a basic acceptance
and recognition of what and who each of us are and what each
of us would like to be. Think of yourself as a clay mold. Either
accept the qualities of ourselves that we appreciate and support that,
and/or accept the qualities of ourselves that we don't appreciate and
work to change that. In either case, I strongly believe that until
a person is living (and taking good care of) him/herself, without
compromising their most important values, then the only things
that we can offer to the closest people in our lives, and to the rest
of the world, is a very low quality aspect of ourselves. (and yes,
it requires knowing what our "most important values" are-- not everyone
has examined that for themselves yet.) Why would you want to
offer a low quality to the outside world? I wouldn't -- and I try my
best not to.
>People who bring children into the world (or who already
>have them) and educate them with an "adapt fast" mentality
The "adapt fast" mentality doesn't appeal to me. In fact the various
"fast" aspects to many different cultures turns me off because the meaning
gets lost.
I would say rather that flexibility is (very) important, and that
to be flexible requires a solidity (inside) with which to hold
through the chaotic rides. And that solidity, IMO, is crucially
dependent upon being an alive and aware human in the best sense.
Amara
********************************************************************
Amara Graps email: amara@amara.com
Computational Physics vita: finger agraps@shell5.ba.best.com
Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/
********************************************************************
"Whenever I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the
future of the human race." -- H. G. Wells
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