You are NOT safe and you are NOT good enough

I'd just like to add that being honest with ourselves doesn't have to be brutal. I know what I need to work on to improve myself, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

If you listen to Watts, one of his discussions was in the pointlessness of trying to change oneself. The person who you are trying to change, is the one who is "not good enough" to begin with. While many would knee-jerk react to this by saying it's all pointless and getting depressed, Watts says this should be a major relief! You don't have to become a different person, because you who you are!

It reminds me of Einstein saying that you cannot fix a problem with the same level of thinking that created it.

This may seem contradictory, but I personally feel that we're all capable of being better. Just because we cannot change who we are, doesn't mean we cannot strive to be the best "us" that we can be!

Changing something out of fear, will only get you a fear-based change. If you can move past the fear, you may find a different path that couldn't be seen before.

This is just my opinion, and if I'm way off, feel free to say so. I apologize if I butchered the Watts and Einstein quotes, or missed the points with them completely, lol!

Brontyn wrote: Changing something out of fear, will only get you a fear-based change. If you can move past the fear, you may find a different path that couldn't be seen before.

I specifically wanted to thank you for this section. Well said.

I'd type that quote by Morgan Freeman in the Shawshank Redemption, if it wasn't so overused and if I could remember it. Here goes.

"Something something ... living, or so and so .... something dying." - Red

LOL!

Oh, Jedi, you warm my heart.

What are the positives we can take from this? What good information and insight can we glean?

Brontyn wrote: If you listen to Watts, one of his discussions was in the pointlessness of trying to change oneself. The person who you are trying to change, is the one who is "not good enough" to begin with. While many would knee-jerk react to this by saying it's all pointless and getting depressed, Watts says this should be a major relief! You don't have to become a different person, because you who you are!

This reminds me also of the movie Fight Club, when Tyler Durden says "self-improvement is masturbation!", referring to the fact that improvement for the sake of improvement is meaningless. Sacrifice is only meaningful if it has a purpose.

Hating yourself for not fitting a mold is a waste of time. You don't "rage against the machine" by becoming a cog in a newer, shinier one. Finding what you truly want, however, and doing it, should be a joyous experience, regardless of the sacrifice and frustration involved. And no amount of complacency or, conversely, hatred, is going to get it done. Action, however, will.

I love how everyone reacts differently in the light of their own existential nature. This thread honestly reminds me of a comic I saw earlier this week.

Hehe,

Obi: "Don't rest on your laurels and pat each other on the back just for your own comfort"

Folks "Stop being negative!, Don't be afraid of who you are!, Don't let others judge you"

Well, I think his point was made for him {-_-}

Though I believe I more or less agree with the "Essence" of Obi's message...

wasting the very little bit of time that you have.

Little? Perhaps my span is short compared to say, a rock, it's still the longest bloody thing I'll ever do.

I don't wanna be liger poop.

JamesSand wrote: Hehe,

Obi: "Don't rest on your laurels and pat each other on the back just for your own comfort"

Folks "Stop being negative!, Don't be afraid of who you are!, Don't let others judge you"

Well, I think his point was made for him {-_-}

I can't speak for everyone else, but I don't take any issue with the assertion that we need to be active and grow and change, I just find that his motivation came from a place of negativity rather than of happiness or hope. I find that while negative emotions can be highly motivational to spur a person on the results are usually not as good as when they are motivated by positive emotions.