PieceOfAdvice's blog: "Piece Of Advice"

"Identity" by Nick Bentley I find it wonderfully ironic that the majority of my life has been spent fighting just to be me. I believe I've come up with decent percentages that divide the contents of a person's identity: 33% - Mother, Father 33% - Pursuit of Interests 33% - Failures, Mistakes, Turn of Events The remaining 1% is always Subject to Change. I also love the concept of taking time off to "find oneself." To my knowledge, the Self-Exploration Excavation usually involves vacating to a destination to experience something "new and exciting." I can see how new experiences can change a person, but I'm not sure how that change would help a person "find themselves." Maybe it would fit inthe percentage of "Failures, Mistakes, and Turn of Events." Maybe experiencing something new and exciting unlocks an attribute in a person's psyche that feeds their personality. Maybe the new experience conjurs up the realization that you were not who you thought you were. I would love to witness the success rate of the experiment. For curiousity's sake, I'm interested to know which of my percentages it would fall under. Once that has been solved, I would love to see how the effects would help/hinder my attempts to make me, me. I think it's safe to say that the quest to be you is commonplace. Half the time is spent in discovery and knowledge of circumstances and events that enhance your persona (and if that's the case, I think I've already answered my previous question). The other half of the time is spent repelling the circumstances that would hinder your growth. The funny part is, it seems that depending on who you are depicts on which half is more prominent. Then again the concept is relative, which in turn would identify who you are. Aha, a vicious cycle. You would think it would be easy to be yourself. Granted, to have comparison you would need contrast. Without it, you couldn't help but be you. But there would also be no point. By contrast there is individuality, which spawns identity. Assumption: Identity is inescapable. Then why struggle? Two theories: Society and Stereotypes. Both seem to coincide on the same plain of circumstance. I'm sure both have their upsides as well as disadvantages, but do either of them help with the search for identity? Possibly. It seems that the underlined objective for both Society and Stereotypes is to classify. To me, the upside to classification is the sense of belonging. One of many natural fears of the human animal is that of rejection. Everyone wants to be accepted. Communication, Companionship, and Safety in Numbers are the 3 basics of acceptence. The downside of classification, for the sake of individuality, is being lumped into a collection you personally do not feel you belong. Hence, the first blow towards the "Fight to be You." I recently caught wind of a concept from a movie involving identity. It was an interesting concept for it's ability of illustrating identity through perception. It was also interesting because it involved superheroes. Superheroes are an excellent example of identity for 2 good reasons: 1) The contrast between hero and alter-ego, 2) How that contrast is molded by Society. The majority of all classic comicbook heroes come with an alter-ego. One is designed to live out a normal everyday life, the other is designed to assist in performing a super-human task when all hope is lost. Both reside on secrecy. If the alter-egoes are ever discovered then the contrast ceases to exist. As stated earlier, the absense of contrast spawns the absense of identity. There are two superheroes in particular that I would like to use. One of which is very important: Spider-Man vs. Superman Superman is the foundation of this concept. Because of the recent rise in superhero movies, the majority of this planet knows that Spider-Man's alter-ego is Peter Parker. They also know that Superman's alter-ego is Clark Kent. When Peter Parker wakes up inthe morning, he is Peter Parker. When he goes to bed at night, he is Peter Parker. He dons on the guise of Spider-Man whenever trouble is amist. The same goes for most superheroes. Their costumes are what they wear to complete the transition from bystander to hero. But leave it to the Man of Steel to throw a monkey wrench in the works. When Clark Kent wakes up inthe morning, he is Superman. When he goes to bed at night, he is Superman. All of his super powers remain constant from sun up to sun down. Now, it can be argued that other superheroes share the same quality. But here's the twist: Superman's suit was the tailored by science and earthly materials. The fabric arrived with him when he crash-landed on this planet as a baby. The costume that Superman wear is not the infamous red and blue with the flowing cape and the sassy 'S.' Superman's costume is a simple business suit, fancy hat on occassion, dress shoes, tie, and glasses. Because of who he is, Superman's guise is that of a normal, natural human being. His super-human individuality throws him into a super-sized role reversal. But that is only half of the beauty with this concept. The other half is Clark Kent's personality. Superman has one true weakness: Kryptonite. Otherwise, he has nothing to fear. Because of the massive powers he possesses, he is nothing short of a god. In fact, if memory serves me, the Man of Steel has butted heads with the Almighties from time to time. He is very intelligent, straight forward, and always ready for action no matter how the odds seem to be stacked against him. On the other hand, Clark Kent is very scatterbrained, cowardly, bumbling, and gives the illusion of vacation the premisis whenever trouble is brewing. The guise of Clark Kent that Superman has chosen is the image he portrays to fit in. He is both accepted by the human population and overlooked because of his characteristics. Now the kicker is the identity he has chosen to adapt in our community is how he perceives our humanity. It is sad to think that a man of expenential power like Superman has taken a look at our Society and has come to the conclusion that the best way for him to blend is to feign someone frail. Stereotypes: Society's Identical Twin. There is a reason for stereotypes. All of them seem to spawn from some kind of common persona. And unfortunately for most, the majority rules. All New Yorkers have bad attitudes, all jewish people are penny-pinchers, the french smell bad, the scottish are all drunks, and all black people adore friend chicken, watermellon, and any drink that begins with the word, "orange." These stereotypes, just to name a few, all started somewhere. Rest assured, you will find those that truly fit the profile. But where the injustice lies are those that are placed in a stereotype because of what they are, not who they are. Stereotypes do have an origin, but in this day and age they are more clichish than separated. It is expected for a certain kind of person to hang out with a certain kind of group. You've got your Ghetto, your Rednecks, your Jocks, your Teeny-Boppers, your Skaters, your Rich Kids, your Goth, your Stoners, your Brainiacs, and your John Doe's. Many of those people are going to fit the profile. They are the core of the stereotype. That is their identity. Many of them have chosen their stereotype because for the time being, they are considered cool. They will have many identities. Many have adopted their stereotype because they are interested in that particular genre. They are building their identity. Many are going to be placed in a stereotype because of their outward appearance. their identities have been branded. These are generally the fighters. Mistaken identity is extremely upsetting, and stereotypes do not help escape from it. Many people will go through life missing out and going without because Society has taken a look at them and have placed them within a certain group. Many will fight in order to show society that they do want want to be lumped into a certain stereotype. A handful of those who fight will choose a different stereotype to be in just to get out of the one theyre currently in. That only solves half the problem. You still have to deal with a false identity. Granted, better a false ifentity than a mistaken one. Now, you will find those who have been placed in a certain stereotype that do not have to try hard at all to show society they do not fit in. Yes, they will run into walls, hurdle over barriers, and wade knee-deep in mud as they struggle through life... but no one is immune to that. Those who do not have to struggle with ordained stereotypes have found their identity. They know exactly who they are. Because of society and stereotypes, they now fight to keep their identity. Previous Assumption: Identity is inescapable. Present Assumption: One will always fight to identify. Once again, a vicious cycle. Conclusion: If A = B, and B = C, then A = C. If identity is inescapable, and you will always fight to identify, then the fight is inescapable. If that is the case, try your best to get Superman and Spider-Man on your side!

The paradox of our time in history is that: We have taller buildings but shorter tempers, Wider freeways but narrower viewpoints. We spend more but have less, We buy more but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, More conveniences but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, More knowledge but less judgement, More experts yet more problems, More medicine but less health. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living but not a life. We've added years to life but not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outspace but not innerspace. We've done larger things but not better things. We've cleaned up the air but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom but not our prejudice. We write more but learn less, We plan more but accomplish less. We've learned to rush but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses but broken homes. There are the moments of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. Remember... spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember... say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person will soon grow up and leave you side, taking everything you have and have not given them. Make a difference. Change is not change until it has changed.

I know. Life is so disappointing. Here you are. You have arrived. You are here. This is your moment. What do you have? You have pain. When you have everything... what do you have? You have nothing. When everything is right, everything is wrong. It's disappointing. It's confusing. This is life. What can you do? Work. You have a gift. Use it. Life will still be there. When you've worked and you've lived. and you know who you are... Life is easy. Work. It's the only answer I know. Work now. You can live later. This is life, not heaven. You don't have to be perfect.

You have many questions. Though the process has altered your consciousness, you remain irrevocably human. Ergo, some of my answers you will understand and some you will not. Concordantly, while your first question may be the most pertinent... You may or may not realize it is also the most irrelevant. Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation... You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts, I've been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is unexpected and thus not beyond a measure of control... Which has led you, inexorably, here. I count from the emergence of one integral anomaly to the emergence of the next. As you are undoubtedly gathering, the anomaly is systemic, creating fluctuations in even the most simplistic equations. Choice. The problem is choice. A triumph equaled only by it's monumental failure. The inevitability of its doom is apparent now as a consequence of the imperfection inherent in every human. I have come to understand that the answer eluded me because it required a lesser mind. Or perhaps, a mind less bound by the parameters of perfection. While this answer functioned, it was fundamentally flawed, thus creating an otherwise contradictory systemic anomaly, that if left unchecked would constitute an escalating probability of disaster... It's every living inhabitant terminated... It's entire existence eradicated. Denial is the most predictable of all human responses. Most people, by design, based on a similar prediction a contingent affirmation that was meant to create a profound attachment to the rest of the human race, facilitating your reason for living. Which brings us at last to the moment of truth, wherein the fundamental flaw is ultimately expressed and the anomaly revealed as both beginning and end. As you adequately put, the problem is choice. But we already know what you are going to choose, don't we? Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason. An emotion that is already blinding you from the simple and obvious truth. Hope. It is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatest weakness.

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?" Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity .. boiling water . Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?" Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

Michael is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Michael was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation. Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Michael and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Michael replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood." Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life. "Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Michael said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live your life." I reflected on what Michael said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Michael was involved in a serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Michael was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back. I saw Michael about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter," Michael replied. "Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Michael continued, "..the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine.But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I knew I needed to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Michael. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'." Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead." Michael lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34. After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

PAIN (by Nick Bentley) They say that pain is the world's greatest teacher. And with that, I must agree. Too many times in my life have I put myself, both purposely and accidently, in pain's line of fire. And the results are never pretty. There's always a lesson to be learned when it comes to pain. How one incorporates the result of pain in their life solely depends on that particular person's nature. Most people have to learn the hard way. For some, it takes just one time. For others, they may go many, many times before they finally surrender. And then, there are those that just aren't going to get it. Pain comes in many different shapes, sizes, styles, attributes, and elements. Generally, those genres spawn from two foundations: mental and physical. Perception of pain usually depict how those life lessons are absorbed. For example, some may experience pain, whether mental or physical, and dwell on the fact that they are in pain without the necessary drive to treat it. Others may experience pain and immediately search for tactical avenues on how to either cure it or stop it. Then there are those that rarely realize they're in pain until the damage has taken its toll. Each individual's reaction to painful circumstances defines their integrity as physical beings, which in turn gages the outcome of current situation. Pain is as much a natural part of life as eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. You can't escape it. In a small handful of cases, it may not be wise to avoid it. As old and as annoying it is to hear it, the proverb holds true: "If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger." And there's a reason for that. As human beings, we are designed to either resist and shy away from pain, or withstand and endure it. Guy meets girl. Guy talks to girl. Guy and girl become friends. Guy and girl spend alot of time together. Guy asks girl out. Girl accepts. Guy and girl are now committed. Over time, guy and girl argue. Guy and girl break up. Guy is inconsoleable. Eventually, guy meets new girl. Guy talks to new girl. Guy and new girl become friends. Guy and new girl spend alot of time together. Guy asks new girl out. New girl accepts. Guy and new girl are now committed. New girl finds out her family is preparing to move to another state. Guy and new girl break up. Guy is hurt. Granted, the example is pretty bland, but it does show that the second separation was not as effective as the first one because of the endurance and experience he acquired from the initial heartbreak. As raw as it is to say, this kind of pain is healthy. On average, the two biggest fears of the human animal are that of rejection and death, both of which are gauranteed and unavoidable. But of course, only one has the potential to make you stronger. I wish I knew what the attraction is between small children and electrical sockets. I know curiosity gripped me as a child, and I've watched countless other children fascinated by the same thing. Maybe it's the concept of a stationary, inanimate object providing life and animation to other inanimate objects. I'm not entirely sure but whatever the reason, children are to sockets as moths are to flames. If a child sticks something into an electrical socket, they will experience pain. Those that have experienced the pain in the past and have survived it will tell the child not to stick anything into the socket. That kind of pain is not healthy. The physical and mental damage that kind of pain can cause is expenintial to the point of fatality. But if the child does not stick an object into the electrical socket, they will be deprived of a serious lifelong lesson. In this event it is safer for the individual to learn this lesson vicariously through the wisdom of others rather than experience the pain firsthand, even to the expense of never fully understanding the reasons behind it. All these scenerios lead to the conclusion that there is some form of knowledge to be collected through pain between mental and physical foundations. Due to the abundance of it's distribution in our everyday lives, we deal with the pain to the best of our abilities, whether it helps or hinders our growth as individuals. Expect it. Interpret it. Define it. Understand it. And, if possible, resolve it. "If it doesn't kill you, it will make you stronger." That is why pain is the world's greatest teacher.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of '05.....Wear Sunscreen If I could offer you only tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience...I will dispense this advice now. Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; Oh nevermind; you will not understand the power of beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at the photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked...You're not as fat as you imagine. Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday. Do one thing that everyday that scares you. Sing Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind...the race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life...the most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't. Get plenty of calcium Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone. Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary...whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either- your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can...don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own. Dance... even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don't follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out. Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time it's 40, it will look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth. But trust me on the sunscreen...

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day is not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar. and the 2 cups of coffee... A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of small pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous "yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things-your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

(This is a thread I participated in on one of my other favorite websites. The system at work is down again, so I figured I'd share what else I do online beside Fubar. I am known on this website as 'Voice Of Reason"...) ________________________________________________________________ psytR: Do you ever find yourself in awe? Do you ever ask yourself questions which you know cannot be answered? Do you ever wonder the meaning of life? I know I do. "What is the purpose of our lives? Some might say to God and others might say to nothing. Now you the person in the middle who sits and looks at these two options with a hesitation to choose, I offer you this: Wake up everyday and realize again and again that your purpose is the purpose of you and you are the purpose of life. Enrich your purpose with whatever you may choose. Because you are the creator of your destination and that God is you and that nothing is death" I personally have found what makes me smile and what makes me sit in amazement. So I encourage you to embark on this journey that is life with this in mind. Voice Of Reason: I grew up in a military, black, religious family. A triple-threat. Upon finally leaving the nest and venturing out on my own, I've come to my own personal option about the purpose of life: "To do what others cannot." To me, that sums it up. My job as an individual on this planet is to do the things that others may not be capable of. Luckily, to each of us as individuals, this is easy. We do it everyday whether we notice it or not. We are each given separate talents, skills, weaknesses and fears that define who are are. They are our own. And as such, we inevitably run into others that are able to do feats we cannot. Are you able to sing? Are you able to draw? Are you able to dance? Sure, many share talents. Look at 'American Idol.' But the levels of skill are still diverse. And the combination of talents are completely random. You are 100% able to do something that no one else will ever be able to do. And that is your purpose... ...in my opinion. psytR: Quite interesting, but I disagree to some extent. We are all humans and thus all capable of the samethings. Now we are born more capable of onething than another, but if one chooses to learn a new 'skill' or 'talent' then it is possible to do so with focus and dedication. Granted it can be more difficult for some to learn a 'talent' than others, nonetheless it's possible. Also I would say it's more of the enviroment we grow up in and little things we see as we develop our minds, if we notice them or not, that end up affecting our minds. Voice Of Reason: Make no mistake, I absolutely understand where you are coming from. Personally, I disagree that all humans are capable of learning the same things. We are too individualistic (is that a word) and unique. There are talents others have that I will never be able to do, no matter the focus and dedication. Example: I will never be double-jointed. Skills are a different matter. Talents are your born with. But even still... the sheer random combination between skills and talents per person illustrates the individualism of our abilities. With your powers combined, you will be able to do things that I will never be able to do. And vysa-versa. Shoot. Even twins have different talents and skills. psytR: Hmm, you put that nicely. There are some points I could disagree a little bit, but you gave a different perspective. Voice Of Reason: I love philosophical disagreements! grin They are probably some of the best educational lessons one can learn. Everything I post is nothing more than an analytical collection of my own opinions and experiences. In no way, shape, or form do I claim to be right. By all means... if there's a perspective that I am just not seeing, PLEASE show me. I love to be critiqued, corrected, and edited. What points did you disagree with? psytR: I guess I'm a firm believer in the amazing things a human being can accomplish when focused and dedicated. Therefore I think it possible to always learn a new talent or skill, but the point I agree and liked was that we all have a unique combination of these and thus we are very individualistic. Voice Of Reason: The consistent advancement in our society proves that we as humans practically have no limits. Through dedication, discipline, determination (which, I believe, all three pretty much mean the same thing), and sacrifice we comparitively are sentient. I believe that I could take a person who cannot sing to save his/her life and give him/her enough vocal training that will have them trying out for 'Star Search' (now known as 'American Idol'). I do not believe that I can take an autistic boy who upon riding a school bus from his school to a baseball stadium can draw an apotheonic detailed map of his traveling route, to tie his toes (not to say that the autistic are incapable of tying shoes... it is just a sheer example). Combined, the human animal is unstoppable. Isolated, the human animal is limited. Hence the reason for my opinion on our purpose in life: "To do what others cannot." psytR: I think that all humans are born equal, but things that we expericance and view, effect us, but in the end we all can learn and do the samethings just as good as the other. We have the same parts and they work in the same way, but some at birth see different things in different ways, therefore we do and think about things differntly. We are all the same!