Been depressed lately..

[crudemood]

this thread cheered me up. you guys are really intelligent.. i love to have different perspective on things.

[Captain Hanks]

I'm a Christian with a heart full of faith. Problem solved, no need to even convince myself.

[TheFatKid]

I'm a Christian with a heart full of faith. Problem solved, no need to even convince myself.

PLease don't turn this into a religious debate, but I don't really see the point in believing in wasting a lifetime in having a set guideline on how to live your life, when you can be finding answers yourself.

[HeallyRi]

'Personal Ignorance' is the fall of every great thing in society. IMO :smokin:
If people were less self-centered, yes, maybe the world would be a better place.

I always visioned Utopia as a more true anarchist society, Self Governed; Such as, The Rainbows (Rainbow Gathering). [Except the whole 'free love' thing..not really for that.. lol]

[Coelho]

"All paths lead nowhere, so take the one that has heart."
"A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting."

Thats the best advice... but i think i need explain this... due the reasons given in my signature.

As demeter stated, we dont know if what we do matters or not, we dont know what happens after death... And probably we never will. So, dont worry yourself about it. I was very like you until very few years ago (im 24). I loved to indulge myself into this kind of thinking, and all the depression it would bring. Though i never wished to commit suicide, several times i did think it would be better. In that dark times i did read Nietzsche too, and it was one of the harmfulest poisons i ever tasted. I dont know how it didnt killed me.

It brings to the first advice i would give: Stop reading all this things. It may be nice, but it will poison you, sooner or later. For me it seems its already happening. Dont fill your mind with this dispairing thoughts, because they only will bring despair to you. Nietzsche was a heavily tormented soul, and so are his writings.

Second, and probably the most important. Everything we feel is inside our mind. We humans are constantly talking with ourselves into our minds. If we are happy, we start talking with ourselves about how we are happy, or why we are happy, or happy things, and then we keep feeling happy because of what we thinked, and we talk again with ourselves about being happy, and then feel happy, and so on... its an unending cycle. And the same happens when we are sad. We talk with ourselves about our sadness, then feel sad, then talk again, and feel again, and so on... the same cycle.

The better way to control it is learn to empty your mind. Its amazing how it works. As i stated before, i was one who liked to suffer, an ultra-romantic (as we learn in the literature classes). If i was living that times today, i think i would be even an emo. Then i learned how to stop to talk with myself. And man... it brought me and incredible serenity. Now is almost impossible for me feel sad, because when i start to feel sad and realize that im talking with myself about things which could make me sad, i just shut up my thoughts. Then i dont become sad anymore. Its not a very easy thing to have this mind control, but is completly worth the effort. Today i only allow myself to talk with myself about happy things, or neutral things, so i live happily.

And third, is about the path with a heart. To choose a path with a heart signifies to choose a way of life which will bring you happiness. Doing what you like to do, being with people you like to be, enjoying the life as best as you can. Our time here is very short, so why waste it suffering when we can be happy? Our life is upon our choices, so choose in a way to make your life as happy as you can. Cause, in the end, its all what matters.

Dont think about tomorrow, cause there is no warrant you will live tomorrow. Dont waste your time searching for a meaning for the life and waste the life itself doing this.
You may even realize, after long years of search, that the meaning of the life is simply to live. But then you will have wasted a lot of time, which will not come back. So, live today, be happy today, enjoy today.

There is a lot of more things i would write... but i think this post is long enough. I hope have helped you. I know very well how you feel and i would be very glad if someone had helped me, instead i had to do it by myself, as i did.

One more thing... if you like to read philosophy, try read Journey to Ixtlan, by Carlos Castaneda. There is a lot of philosophycal stuff there, probably as deep or even deeper than most philosophycal stuff we read. I say it because i did read a lot of philosophy, and did not find anything deeper, more rational and (in my opinion) truer than this.

And at last but not at least... keep smoking! The weed is one of the shorter ways to the wisdom and enlightenment! :rastasmoke::jointsmile::stoned:

[TheFatKid]

Good advice Coelho, but I don't completely agree. Living like this and thinking all thoughts, sad, happy, angry, its all fun to me. So it does make me happy learning about myself and about the mind. I'd rather sit up on a hill overlooking a city thinking and writing or playing guitar instead of a lot of other stuff such as watching TV, playing a sport, or even playing video games.

[Coelho]

Living like this and thinking all thoughts, sad, happy, angry, its all fun to me. So it does make me happy learning about myself and about the mind.

Well... then i think i didnt understand you well... you seemed (for me) to be struggling with dispairing thoughts, so thats why i gave that advice.
But if you are not, and just like to think about anything, happy or sad, and dont become controled by it, just think about, then its ok.
I like learn about myself and my mind too, and even if many things i think and realize about myself are pretty bad or sad, its good to learn them. Realizing things about yourself is the first step to improve, fix or change them.

I'd rather sit up on a hill overlooking a city thinking and writing or playing guitar instead of a lot of other stuff such as watching TV, playing a sport, or even playing video games.

Me too... i prefer thinking than anything futile... that things dont bring wisdom, enlightenment, or anything like this, and in my opinon are just an waste of time.

[TheFatKid]

I was struggling at that time, mostly just wondering though. I was just thinking that life is pointless. Sometimes the thoughts drive me to concentrate too hard on it, but thats only sometimes. Over this weekend and learning more about Columbine and VT I've realized that a little kindness goes a long way. I no longer make fun of people for no reason. I don't even talk about them behind their back. Its just wrong and causes too much trouble.