Can't post without thread title.

[Lorizael]

Do you actually feel lonely, or do you feel you need companionship because its "normal"? Serious question.

Neither, really. I had a particularly bad bout of missing my ex yesterday, but most of the time it isn't really an issue at all. In general, I'm doing much better with the breakup than she is. What I'm not doing well with is the fact that I ****ed my life up because I'm a stupid child who can't grow up and do normal things like live on my own or have children.

[The Mad Monk]

Don't look at it that way. Lots of famous people were smart enough to realize they shouldn't marry and / or have children, and acted accordingly. Some were more ruthless about it than others. Rousseau, for example, had five children, all of whom he sent to an orphanage shortly after they were born.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

I don't pretend to have answers to what you are going through or feeling, and I get the feeling perhaps you don't want those offered in any event as you will need to develop and internalize them anyway. In any event, just know good luck, Lori.

[Lorizael]

Alright everybody, that concludes today's episode of Lori Has a Public Freak Out For No Good Reason. It looks like our winner for the round is Elok with the correct answer of, "You have heart disease and stopped taking your heart medicine? wtf kind of idiot are you?" All other participants will receive the consolation prize of a heartfelt thanks from Lori himself. Tune in next time when Lori freaks out over the fact that some of his classmates don't despise him. Thank you and good night!

[rah]

Good Luck.

[Elok]

Girl's not the issue, BK. The issue is me feeling like I don't have my **** together. I'm in a bad, bad mood, so I'm just going to politely tell you not to advise me to ditch one of the most important people in my life when I'm really ****ing depressed. If you want to continue down that avenue, I will become increasingly less polite.

See, that's one of your strengths; I would have been a lot more vicious by that point. Good luck.

[Ben Kenobi]

See, that's one of your strengths; I would have been a lot more vicious by that point.

The difference between you and me is that I specifically told him to listen to your good advice.

[Lorizael]

He's got you there, Elok. You didn't tell me to listen to your advice.

[Elok]

Full disclosure mode: I totally ripped off some of that advice I just gave you from Jack White.

When problems overwhelm, us and sadness smothers us, where do we find the will and the courage to continue? Well, the answer may come in the caring voice of a friend, a chance encounter with a book, or from a personal faith. For Janet help came from her faith, but it also came from a squirrel. Shortly after her divorce, Janet lost her father, then she lost her job. She had mounting money problems. But Janet not only survived, she worked her way out of despondency and now she says, life is good again. How could this happen? She told me that late one Autumn day when she was at her lowest she watched a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter, one at a time he would take them to the nest. And she thought, if that squirrel can take care of himself with the harsh winter coming along, then so can I. Once I broke my problems into small pieces I was able to carry them, just like those acorns, one at a time.

Sure, it was arguably the weakest song on the album, but the dude knew what he was talking about.

[Aeson]

Oh and remember you're not living in the 3rd World, that always helps.

This could be read more than one way. I'm going with you're recommending he move to a 3rd World country.

--------------------

Lorizael,

Best thing I ever did. I regret all those times I thought about joining the Peace Corps in my late teens and twenties, but never did for various reasons. (The main being "what help could I be to anyone?")

If life seems empty and meaningless ... maybe it actually is. Maybe it's not wrong to feel that it is. Maybe it's good that you feel your life is that way. Not because it has to be empty and meaningless, but because you're not yet in a situation that fulfills you. If so, the cure isn't to change your mindset with drugs, but to change what you're doing with your life. I wish instead of drugs my therapists would have prescribed me a backpacking trip around the world or to join the Peace Corp. But they'll never do that because there's no money in it or they just don't understand.

Not saying your place is a 3rd world country or that you should give up medication/counseling. Everyone is different. Where your place is I don't know. It might be a soup kitchen. Or a place on the beach to read a book. Or a lonely mountain top. Or wandering the streets of some city that sparks your imagination. You don't strike me as someone who'd be happy in a "normal" setting. That can make life harder, but also much more interesting.

I know that depression can be something that has no reason. I still "feel it". My body doesn't make the right chemicals in the right balance. It never will, and the drugs they gave me to try to fix that were worse than the problem. But life is still great when I'm able to be doing something I love. I think of it as a broken bone. It's a type of pain, but not something that can stand in the way of satisfaction in life.

[Ben Kenobi]

Not saying your place is a 3rd world country or that you should give up medication/counseling. Everyone is different. Where your place is I don't know. It might be a soup kitchen. Or a place on the beach to read a book. Or a lonely mountain top. Or wandering the streets of some city that sparks your imagination. You don't strike me as someone who'd be happy in a "normal" setting. That can make life harder, but also much more interesting.

My place is Texas.

[kentonio]

Well, first off, don't drink, this is a lousy time to start.

Terrible advice. A breakup is a great time to start drinking.

[dannubis]

Not when he is chronically depressed.

[Lorizael]

This could be read more than one way. I'm going with you're recommending he move to a 3rd World country.

--------------------

Lorizael,

Best thing I ever did. I regret all those times I thought about joining the Peace Corps in my late teens and twenties, but never did for various reasons. (The main being "what help could I be to anyone?")

If life seems empty and meaningless ... maybe it actually is. Maybe it's not wrong to feel that it is. Maybe it's good that you feel your life is that way. Not because it has to be empty and meaningless, but because you're not yet in a situation that fulfills you. If so, the cure isn't to change your mindset with drugs, but to change what you're doing with your life. I wish instead of drugs my therapists would have prescribed me a backpacking trip around the world or to join the Peace Corp. But they'll never do that because there's no money in it or they just don't understand.

Not saying your place is a 3rd world country or that you should give up medication/counseling. Everyone is different. Where your place is I don't know. It might be a soup kitchen. Or a place on the beach to read a book. Or a lonely mountain top. Or wandering the streets of some city that sparks your imagination. You don't strike me as someone who'd be happy in a "normal" setting. That can make life harder, but also much more interesting.

I know that depression can be something that has no reason. I still "feel it". My body doesn't make the right chemicals in the right balance. It never will, and the drugs they gave me to try to fix that were worse than the problem. But life is still great when I'm able to be doing something I love. I think of it as a broken bone. It's a type of pain, but not something that can stand in the way of satisfaction in life.

Yeah, that's why I went back to school a year and a half ago. Turns out you can't just make one big change and expect everything else to be different, though.

[kentonio]

Not when he is chronically depressed.

I'd be chronically depressed if I hadn't started drinking yet either.