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Life Worth Living- what is it like?

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  • #447223
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Alessa:

    Thank you for such a heartfelt message—it truly means a lot. ❤️ I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and the care woven through everything you shared.

    I admire how you’ve found ways to adapt to dyspraxia—cycling sounds like a beautiful solution that brings both freedom and simplicity. It’s such a clear example of creating space for yourself in the world, on your own terms.

    And yes, I’m lucky to have someone kind helping me with online things. I’ll take your suggestion about clothing sites to heart and see what we can come up with.

    What you said about my childhood struck a chord. It’s painful when others turn away—or worse, endorse harm by pretending it never happened. Your empathy in naming that really touched me.

    You’re also spot on about this space—we all arrive here carrying tenderness, defenses, and hopes. And that makes connection both fragile and precious. I’m so grateful we reconnected. What we have now feels honest, mutual, and earned—and that matters deeply to me. ❤️

    Thank you for seeing me so clearly. I’m truly glad we’re still here—still showing up for each other.

    With warmth, Anita

    #447226
    anita
    Participant

    Journaling because I can, because I have this space here, in my own thread-

    I say “because I can” as an act of defiance, an act of rebellion, simply because I lived without such space for too long.

    Better say, I suffocated without space-for-me, for too long.

    It’s amazing how a person can suffocate for so long and yet, still live to tell about it.

    I have been taking my space here, in my many threads, and in real-life, DANCING outdoors to live music. And I’ve been taking my space in forming friendships and friendly acquaintances.

    It makes my life Worth Living (see the title of this thread?)

    Listening to music.. “it’s just a shot away, ah yea..” Rolling Stones.

    It’s very important to me to not CHASE anyone for friendship or attention.

    Give people the space they need.

    Light outside, music too loud, can’t hear the birds I assume are there, outside my open windows.

    .. “Angie.. With no Loving in our Souls..”

    – There IS loving in my soul!

    I am a good person after all, who could have known. Not me-

    I thought that I was a bad person because my mother told me so, her clearly spelled out message: YOU ANITA – BAD.

    It was a false message. I FINALLY KNOW it- what a relief, so many decades after that devastating, false message took hold.

    .. What has hurt me so badly in my life has been REJECTION, active rejection and passive rejection= ignoring me, not answering me, not responding to my words/ my sentiment. Nothing. As if I didn’t exist (no space for me).

    Well, I exist.

    More about the rejection I experienced and how MUCH it hurt:

    Well, it hurt, and no rationalizing it can dim the hurt.

    it’s an emotional thing, this hurt.. no words.

    “Here I am on the road again.. There I go turn the page… There I .. GO.” (Music, if you don’t recognize these words).

    The 20-year-old who murdered two firefighters in Idaho today and injured a third, he wanted to be a firefighter.. was he reacting to rejection?

    I don’t know, his motivation wasn’t determined yet. I don’t excused the violence and death, of course, but we can all make it a better world by responding to- not ignoring- people who so desperately need a .. response.

    You see a child hurting, an adult who’s still hurting? Say something, say: I see you, see you hurting, tell me more..?

    Say something, don’t let people drown in unresponsive, suffocating pools of nothingness.

    Help people to not feel as terribly alone as I- and so many others- have felt for too long.

    Anita

    #447227
    anita
    Participant

    Completely dark now.

    “Yeah.. I’ll keep you by my side… If I am alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?” (music piercing through the darkness)

    it’s all about connecting, isn’t it- about being responded to, not being left alone.. as simple as that?

    Is it all about: SEE me, HEAR me, let me know I am NOT ALONE, not all by myself.

    Be there for me, be HERE for me.. (and I’ll be here for you).

    Anita

    #447244
    anita
    Participant

    Continued Journaling:

    Last night I wrote: “More about the rejection I experienced and how much it hurt… it’s an emotional kind of pain. No words… The 20-year-old who murdered two firefighters in Idaho today and injured a third—he wanted to be a firefighter. Was he reacting to rejection?”

    And then this morning, I read a quote on MSN from the suspect’s grandfather: > “He loved firefighters. It didn’t make sense that he was shooting firefighters. Maybe he got rejected or something.”

    There it is—that word: rejected.

    Of course, there’s no excusing what he did. It’s too late to offer him acceptance or understanding—too late to prevent the deaths of two firefighters and the injuries of another. But it’s not too late to extend empathy and genuine acceptance to those of us who’ve lived in the shadow of chronic rejection—rejection that lasts so long it leads to a kind of isolation that cuts both inward and outward.

    An isolation so intense, so desperate, that in some cases… it becomes deadly.

    And who’s to say what difference a simple act of kindness might make? A gentle smile. A moment of being seen. A stranger, troubled or alone, looked at with warmth instead of indifference.

    That kind of acceptance might not fix everything. But it might mean someone keeps climbing instead of slipping further down.

    Anita

    #447255
    anita
    Participant

    11:11 pm, Tuesday, July 1, 2025-

    Anita

    #447256
    anita
    Participant

    11:31 PM

    #447257
    anita
    Participant

    OOPSIE, 11:32

    #447271
    Engineer101
    Participant

    Anita,
    I was struct by your statement on the ten years you are on this forum and the thousands of people you guided who have vanished with just a few stalwarts like Alessa, Peter et, al. Think of the gift of positive energy you shared with these people as they navigated their own search for meaning. These thousands of people moved on because they were ready, you set them free. They are sharing positive energy with others in ways you could not imagine, the impact you have had on this world by simply having a big heart and the diligence to read, understand and reply will never be known . However, the Beatles song “The End” sums it all up so simply : “And in the end, The love you take is equal to the love you make” .

    For me the most precious treasures are the connection with others, this can be a simple a shared smile with a passing stranger to a life shared with a soul mate. I believe that we are all part of the same energy field, I call it Love. Others call it God, Zen etc. We all belong, we draw life energy from the source and in time we all recognise that we are all the same.

    I have absolute no doubt that you Anita have a direct line to the life giving energy source, in the connections and support you made and shared , you have are a positive life force.

    Keep up your good work
    Gerard

    #447272
    Engineer101
    Participant

    I note that you like referencing songs : this is the first song I ever remember hearing.

    The whistling gypsy came over the hill,
    Down to the valley so shady;
    He whistled and he sang,
    Till the green woods rang,
    And he won the heart of a lady.

    Ah di doo ah di doo dah day,
    Ah di doo ah de da-a-why
    He whistled and he sang,
    Till the green woods rang,
    And he won the heart of a lady.

    She left her father’s castle gates;
    She left her own fond lover,
    She left her servants and her estate,
    To follow the gypsy rover.

    Ah di doo ah di doo dah day,
    Ah di doo ah de da-a-why
    He whistled and he sang,
    Till the green woods rang,
    And he won the heart of a lady.

    He is no gypsy my father she said,
    But lord of these lands over;
    With him I’ll stay till my dying day,
    And follow the gypsy rover.

    Ah di doo ah di doo dah day,
    Ah di doo ah de da-a-why
    He whistled and he sang,
    Till the green woods rang,
    And he won the heart of a lady.

    The whistling gypsy came over the hill,
    Down to the valley so shady;
    He whistled and he sang,
    Till the green woods rang,
    And he won the heart of a lady.

    Ah di doo ah di doo dah day,
    Ah di doo ah de da-a-why
    He whistled and he sang,
    Till the green woods rang,
    And he won the heart of a lady.

    #447276
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Gerald:

    Your words moved me more than I can say. Thank you—not only for your kindness, but for caring enough to write in my thread. That gesture alone speaks of such generosity, and it brought the first smile to my face this Wednesday afternoon (here in the U.S.).

    That Beatles line feels like the perfect seal to your message. I’ll carry it with me.

    Please know, Gerald, that you’re always warmly welcome here—to share your thoughts, feelings, questions, contradictions, and hopes. Your presence adds richness to this space and warmth to my heart.

    With appreciation, Anita 🤍

    #447279
    anita
    Participant

    I submitted the post above before seeing the song you shared 🙂. I’ll be back at the computer in a few hours and will respond more fully then.

    Anita

    #447285
    anita
    Participant

    … Be back tomorrow (Wed night here)

    #447304
    Engineer101
    Participant

    Anita,
    I read your comment about your mother telling you that you were “bad”, why a parent would devalue their child and damage them for life with cruel comments is baffling.

    You also wrote about the tragedy with the Idaho fire fighters. What I have noticed in recent decades is the lack of positive role models for boys and young men, this should be a father role.

    Should parenting skill be thought in high school ?

    Warm Regards
    Gerard

    #447312
    anita
    Participant

    Dear Gerald:

    Thank you for sharing the lyrics to The Whistling Gypsy Rover—the first song you remember hearing. I don’t think I’ve come across it before, so you’ve introduced me to something new, and I truly appreciate that.

    I can imagine how vivid that musical memory must have been, especially with its romantic, wandering spirit. Songs often become emotional bookmarks—snapshots of who we were and what we were feeling in that moment of life, don’t they?

    I also want to thank you for your compassionate response to what I shared about my mother. Your words—“why a parent would devalue their child and damage them for life with cruel comments is baffling”—were deeply comforting. When someone sees that kind of harm for what it truly is, without trying to explain it away or soften the reality, it offers a kind of validation that means more than I can say.

    I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts on fatherhood and the lack of strong male role models. I’ve often thought about how boys grow up longing to know what tenderness and integrity look like in a male figure—and how many never get to see that modeled at home. If a father offers only control, criticism, or emotional distance, vulnerability begins to feel unsafe. And when boys learn early on that emotions are something to hide, they often grow into men who don’t know how to process grief, confusion, or fear—only how to bury those feelings and keep going.

    Men are expected to be brave, silent, and uncomplaining. But underneath, there can be grief and loneliness that never find a name, simply because they were never shown how. That kind of invisible burden still shapes lives in powerful ways.

    As for your question—should parenting be taught in high school? I couldn’t agree more. Not just biology or civics, but empathy, emotional regulation, and how to care for and guide another life. Teaching not only what parenting is, but also what it isn’t—exploring the difference between care and control, support and abuse—could make a meaningful impact. Even a short curriculum could begin to shift legacies.

    Warm regards back to you—and thank you again for showing up with such insight and thoughtfulness.

    Anita 🤍

    #447325
    anita
    Participant

    Journaling this (what is it).. Thursday night, July 3.. big events tomorrow, downtown, July 4.

    Still July 3, 2025-

    Wine gets into my brain so fast! First glass.. and BOOM!

    Told I am a “light weight”- it doesn’t take much alcohol..

    So, where was I, where am I going with this..?

    To answer better, I need more alcohol-

    (Please don’t judge me- I am not driving, not risking others on the roads.. here, home)

    Hold on- getting more red wine

    Got it.

    I still feel the tension in my left shoulder, twitching.

    It’s the Fight-Flight response to trauma, captive in my body, day-in, day out, year-in, year out, sixty years. Running.. but nowhere safe to run to.

    If my mother saw me as a person (a person, not a thing), a person on her side.. we (WE) could have built a team, working together, victoriously.

    But she insisted- no team work. Instead, it was she OR me. If I win, she loses; if I lose, she wins.

    Stupid, STUPID mother.

    STUPID!!!

    * July’s 4th fireworks just started.

    STUPID, STUPID mother- you COULDN’T SEE your greatest resource, ME?

    Me, the person I am, is one who will do a whole lot for others, help, save.. in any, every way I can. This is who I am.

    Let me know if you are in need of help, of what kind.. and I will help!

    Back to Stupid Mother- what is WRONG WITH YOU? Why do you- did you- insist on DESTROYING the person who cared about you the most?

    Why did you so doggedly go about destroying the one who LOVED you so very, very much?

    This concrete wall you put between you and me, blocking me.

    Isolating me.

    I am 64. My mother is 84.. we could have been friends. Instead- by your own doing- we are strangers, never got to be anything but Strangers.

    Someone suggested to me a day or two ago, that it is not too late to connect- someone who doesn’t know you, or me.

    It got me thinking-feeling for just a moment- connecting with.. my mother- the woman, person who Will NOT connect-

    Yet, still, an attractive concept.

    She is still alive back there, on the other side of the world, continents and oceans away from me. Yet always far, just a wall in-between, less than a meter away.

    A second of fantasy goes like this: me and she CONNECT, for the first- and the last time. FINALLY: Ima I love you.. and she says, unflinchingly: I love you too!

    Like she says it in a way that’s believable.

    And then she says: I didn’t mean to make you feel like a piece if sh**t”

    So, I says. why did you.. ?

    And she says, she says…

    I want to hear her answer, ANSWER ME: why, WHY did you DESTROY me the best/ worst you could, WHY? TELL me.

    And she says (more red wine, more fireworks in the background), she says: (I want to hear the truth, and I may, with a bit more alcohol, just a bit)..

    (More red wine).. Why, mother. Why?

    And she says (I know truth is coming and I don’t know what it’s going to be)-

    She says (more red wine, July 4th fireworks in the background (11 PM, western us)

    Why did you hurt me.. purposefully, why did you want to hurt me?

    She says, she says.. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! YOU ARE A NOBODY! YOU ARE A BIG ZERO!!!

    But mother, that’s what you said, but you didn’t mean it, did you?

    And she says: “Yes, I meant it: you are a NOBODY, you are q NOTHING- like I told you before!”

    So she says, I remember.. her legacy in my life.

    Anita

Viewing 15 posts - 106 through 120 (of 181 total)

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