Were you surprised?
- Looking back at your life, what surprised you the most?
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How foolish I was to believe in my dreams.
@goodSpruce3041 I hear that...yes indeed, I do.
Do you want a positive answer or a more realistic one? I'll post the latter since I'm better at that anyway:
I've had a few surprises in my life, but the biggest one was the culmination of what started during my college years. It was during that time that certain nagging health issues began...irritating, but manageable as long as I didn't try to work a physically demanding job. (This took a while for me to learn) Then came the mid-2010's, when my main chronic condition slowly emerged. In 2017 I got my diagnosis. That, along with worsening of one of the earlier conditions (tendinitis), changed my life completely & not for the better.
I never saw any of this coming when I was younger; as someone else here already said, I was foolish enough to believe in my dream. Now I really understand the old saying, "if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans."
@slowdecline48
That is why I no longer believe in God. Too many disappointments and tragedies, too many unanswered prayers. Screw faith. Faith must be earned if there's a god that wants me to believe.
@goodSpruce3041 I've said the same thing in different words, more than once. "If you want to make God laugh..." is a folk saying more than anything else. I wouldn't call myself an atheist, but I am definitely a bleak agnostic. I don't know enough to say whether there is anything beyond the physical world; however I'm quite sure if there is something out there then (S)He/It doesn't give a d**n about humanity or any member of it.
@slowdecline48
Agreed. It's like, when I used to pray to a god for something, such as not letting my sister die of cancer, the answer, if any, was always "No." And the attitude seems to be "no, but worship me anyway."
Eff that!
I am surprised to see how my days are racing away wish I could stop time
@Altruistisian the older I get the faster time appears to be going. I think having a routine contributes to that sense but it is also just part of beig at a later point in life.
There is nothing I can cling to. I experience things and then I find them fading away and new things arise.
What caught me by surprise was that one of my best friends died at the age of 51. He was younger than me and in top physical condition. My wife and I tried to show our support to my friend's widow. I think the widow needs time to process. Please keep all of us in your prayers because we all have various health issues.
@Swordpsalm I am sorry for the loss of your friend. Grief takes time. Be well.
@soulsingsThat I accomplished nothing I wanted to as a young person.
@1RiverGirl the emotional stress of being a young person nowadays is beyond belief. Besides possibly having overly ambitious goals, just coping with the stress can really offset our potential. I hope you do not beat yourself up. We live in a world that is stressed to the max. No blame is my game in this case.
@soulsings
That she left
Sorry for your loss - how are you coping?
@soulsings
What do you mean coping? I was just surprised that my sister left to the basketball game. She usually doesn't like sports.
Thought your partner broke up with you.
@JohnnyDaGoodTalker
I'm still alive???
@energeticSquare9210 I am glad you are here. How has today gone so far?
What surprises me is from where I started to where I ended up. I started out, in poverty really. Nobody ever gave me much of a chance to amount to anything. But I retired a Police homicide detective. I never would have thought in my wildest dreams. But believe me most things are possible, you just never know.
@Daybyday64. Wow that’s quite a career! Such an important job.
@Daybyday64 This will sound clichéd, but you should write a book about it. Sounds like your life has been a very interesting one.
@soulsings How opened minded I am and how wise I have gotten, with age.
@calmMango9611 I hear you. The only way I got this way was by mistakes and by avoiding repeating them again and again.
@soulsings Thanks for sharing this with me. Thanks for being honest as well.
@calmMango9611 thank you friend.
One other observation: After living as long as I have, & reading what I've read--history, mostly military & religious--I am less & less surprised by anything as time goes by. History does not repeat itself but certain patterns recur. There's a difference. I've come to see the world as driven more by gargantuan, impersonal forces & eruptions of chaos than by individual decisions. In certain times & places the right (or wrong) person can affect the overall flow, but that happens rarely.
@slowdecline48 I am an oldie too. I look at the world in two ways. The macro world is full of examples of suffering. The micro world is often invisible to the eye but there is a certain symmetry and consistency and at that level I see people making creative and spiritual decisions that make a world of difference ini their lives.
I remember some author who said that when we create peace in our minds and empty them of fear and hatred and other negative qualities it changes the inner world of people. They no longer have any reason to fear you so thtat makes the world in relation to you a more peaceful place.