by Paul Quinnett

Hearing all the pain in Bamboo's post made me run for this book again. He really gives such good advice that I need to quote from it.

In the Chapter, A Philosophy of Life...he writes:

"Give yourself a gift..a very precious gift. And that gift is this: The time, the space, and the solitude to begin to sort out what it means to you to be a human being and to have a life to live. Admittedly, this is a spiritual quest, even an existential one. And, some might argue, a psychologist hasn't much business mucking around with things philosophical or religious or spiritual.

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We live in a time of fast foods, and convenience stores and cute quips that pass for wisdom and, I have sometimes wondered, if we are not all the victims of a fast-lane mentality that makes simple solutions like suicide easier than struggling with our own thoughts and fears and doubts and learning to sacrifice for love rather than to expect it to be given us with a money back guarantee.

You have no doubt heard the now-popular saying, "Life is a *****, and then you die." It is a clever one-liner and making the rounds just now. But is it true? Is it true for you? when things have not been going right in my world, I have repeated this little phrase mayself. But these eight words are a powerful and negative statement about life and while I may make a joke with them from time to time, I do not really believe them to be true....Quite the opposite. I could just as well say, "Life is a picnic, but sometimes you get ants."

The first one-liner justifies my occasional pessimism, the second challenges me to see a bigger picture. It is up to me to choose between them. I make that choice- consciously, daily. I would ask that you do the same for yourself." Unquote


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Oh Pter would have liked this guy a lot!