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Life can hand out a lot of hurt, scary stuff and struggle. Some of the hurts are so hard, movies are made about people living through them. Nietzsche (20th century German philosopher) said that he thought that the things that did not kill a person made the person strong. It is more accurate, however, to assume that the things that do not kill you will make you either stronger OR weaker. You get to chose: Give in to anger, Luke, and give your self to the Dark Side. Or promise your self to make sure lots of other people hurt like you hurt so you won't be alone. Or promise your self to make sure you become the baddest ass -- the most insensitive -- on the block. Or, fight against what some might call "human nature" and use your negative experiences to understand the pain and fear that others are going through and work to be more patient, understanding, compassionate, wise and hopeful. (Serial killers may have moments when they feel like they get to be the one in control but they have awful lives.)
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 | Is it just talk-is-cheap crap to say that bad times have some sort of positive purpose? How could that be? .
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rea·son·a·bly adv.
1. Capable of reasoning; rational: a reasonable person.
2. Governed by or being in accordance with reason or sound thinking: a reasonable solution to the problem.
3. Being within the bounds of common sense: arrive home at a reasonable hour. 4. Not excessive or extreme; fair.
prac·ti·cal
adj.
1. Of, relating to, governed by, or acquired through practice or action, rather than theory, speculation, or ideals.
2. Manifested in or involving practice.
3. Actually engaged in a specified occupation or a certain kind of work; practicing.
4. Capable of being used or put into effect; useful.
5. Intended to serve a purpose without elaboration.
6. Concerned with the production or operation of something useful: Woodworking is a practical art.
7. Level-headed, efficient, and unspeculative.
8. Being actually so in almost every respect; virtual.
prac·ti·ca·ble adj.
1. Capable of being effected, done, or put into practice; feasible.
2. Usable for a specified purpose: a practicable way of entry.
Usage Note: It is easy to confuse practicable and practical because they look so much alike and overlap in meaning. Practicable means “feasible” as well as “usable,” and it cannot be applied to persons. Practical has at least eight meanings, including the sense “capable of being put into effect, useful,” wherein the confusion with practicable arises.
prac·tice n.
1. A habitual or customary action or way of doing something.
2. Repeated performance of an activity in order to learn or perfect a skill. 3. A session of preparation or performance undertaken to acquire or polish a skill. 4. A skill so learned or perfected.
5. The condition of being skilled through repeated exercise.
6. The act or process of doing something; performance or action.
7. A habitual or customary action or act.
prem·ise n.
1. A proposition upon which an argument is based or from which a conclusion is drawn.
2. Logic - one of the propositions in a deductive argument.
living v. tr.
1. To spend or pass (one's life).
2. To go through; experience.
3. To practice in one's life.
love n.
1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
2. A feeling of intense desire and attraction toward a person with whom one is disposed to make a pair; the emotion of sex and romance.
3. An intense emotional attachment.
4. A person who is the object of deep or intense affection or attraction; beloved.
5. An expression of one's affection.
6. A strong predilection or enthusiasm.
7. To have a deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward (a person).
8. To have a feeling of intense desire and attraction toward (a person).
9. To have an intense emotional attachment to: loves his house.
1ight n.
1. Physics: Electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength.
2. Spiritual awareness; illumination.
3. Something that provides information or clarification.
4. A state of awareness or understanding, especially as derived from a particular source: in the light of experience.
5. A way of looking at or considering a matter; an aspect.
6. A person who inspires or is adored by another.
7. Light In Quaker doctrine, the guiding spirit or divine presence in each person.
8. To cause to give out light; make luminous.
9. To provide, cover, or fill with light; illuminate.
10. To signal, direct, or guide with or as if with illumination.
11. To enliven or animate: A smile lit her face.
12. A philosophy that maintains that, among other things, it is good to be compassionate and caring for others, avoid wars, be loving and truthful and enjoy; that it is important to be loving and caring of those who are infirm or unable to care for or protect themselves; that love and kindness are valued and anger and hostility should be avoided. This is in contrast to the mirror philosophy of Darkness which maintains that, among other things, it is good to be greedy and contentious and foolish to be compassionate; that it is best to engage in warfare and take advantage of others whenever possible because this fine tunes the species, weeding out the weak and infirm; that war is good because it promotes advances in technology and fine tunes the gene pool; that it is best not to provide support or protections for those who cannot support and protect themselves as this weakens the species;
hearted adj.
1. Emotional constitution, basic disposition, or character
2. One's prevailing mood or current inclination: We were light of heart.
3. Capacity for sympathy or generosity; compassion: a leader who seems to have no heart.
4. Love; affection.
5. Courage; resolution; fortitude: The soldiers lost heart and retreated.
6. The firmness of will or the callousness required to carry out an unpleasant task or responsibility: hadn't the heart to send them away without food.
7. The central or innermost physical part of a place or region: the heart of the financial district. See Synonyms at center.
8. The most important or essential part: get to the heart of the matter.
love n.
1. A deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.
2. An intense emotional attachment, as for a pet or treasured object.
life n.
1. The physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute existence. 2. The interval of time between birth and death.
3. The time for which someone exists or functions.
7. A spiritual state regarded as a transcending of corporeal death.
8. An account of a person's life; a biography.
9. Human existence, relationships, or activity in general.
10. A manner of living: led a hard life.
11. A specific, characteristic manner of existence.
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Why have we, as a culture, as a civilization, let the question of morals, ethics, honor, and values take such a distant back seat to momentary safety?
