+1

Words to live by..literally! Rep for that!

Indeed, thanks for contributing to my little thread. +1

Karl Jaspers coined a term for what you had there: a "borderline situation". I don't remember more than very general stuff, but they are pretty interesting - in situations from which one cannot escape, one can learn much about oneself (or the world... or, better yet: one's relation to the world in general).

I'll indulge myself by providing a tiny quote:
"The truth of human existence, according to Jaspers, reveals itself especially in “borderline situations” such as illness, death or guilt. In these situations, which the individual is incapable of altering and whose common characteristic is suffering, man runs up against his limits, experiences directly the loneliness of existence, and loses every certainty except that of his (own) existence. At the same time, these situations, and only these, make possible a unique insight: what matters above all is the individual, “his attitude towards himself, his life, the self-decision of the existing individual”.

Borderline situations show who a human being is and what he is capable of. They confront man with the possibilities of “authentic self-being”, and so with his freedom and his responsibility. Even in failure, man becomes aware of his freedom. Failure is one of the possibilities of human existence; it is even one of its conditions. Whoever fears failure fears life, for, according to Jaspers, the central challenge of existence consists precisely in the risk of failure: not simply to accept factual existence, but to question it and to live possible existence as real existence.

Borderline situations, along with wonder and doubt, are for Jaspers the true origin of philosophy because they are so closely bound up with the experience of transcendence. This experience is possible only in the enigmatic form of never fully decipherable signs (Jaspers calls these Chiffre or “ciphers”) in which something beyond man suggests or indicates something completely Other that can never be fully grasped. Failure is one of these ciphers; God is another."

Good post man, I know exactly how you feel.

When I was 18 (11 years ago) I partied waaaaay too hard one night and woke up in the hospital three days later with my mom sobbing at my side. Made me think of how fragile we are, mortality, etc. I was afraid to fall asleep in my own bed for months after that, wondering if I'd wake up in the hospital again, or not wake up at all.

So is living in the past and playing GOGs a good or a bad thing?

Time enjoyed isn't wasted.

I always romantically viewed my slowly approaching old age as one that would differ from my (grand)parents' in that I would have GOGs to play while noone visited me.

Thank you, sir. You have allowed my dream to live on.

Quoted for truth. GOG's and enjoying games are not bad, I was using it as an example that anything controlling your life is taking control of your life away from you.

Games are not bad, and as one person pointed out, for most if not all of us, a necessary distraction from life when needed. <3

I know what you mean, OP. back when my husband told me the doctor has found a tumor on his leg and it turned out to be bone cancer, I worried of nothing else for the next 3 years.

Unfortunately I'm a worrier, so once it became apparent he was going to make it, I started to worry about other things again. It seems there's always a certain amount of worry in my life.

It is quite normal that when bigger shit comes to life, you easily forget about the smaller shit in your life, at least for the time being. Law of nature.

I've had people very close to me dying, I've been sometimes quite sick myself, or (near) getting unemployed, very tight on money (e.g. I remember when I had about 7€ money left for two weeks of food, I ate a lot of oat porridge during those two weeks...) etc. etc. etc.

But they don't necessarily mean I would e.g. forget about gaming, or any tiny things in life I enjoy, for good.

Good luck with a recovering of your family member, CymTyr.

I think I'm cool about most of things in my life thanks to my parents. Sure, they used to be stressed about my education and stuff but they always emphasized that "if one's life isn't in danger, the issue is meaningless". For example, I try to work diligently and I'm glad I have a job but I don't take it too seriously. I will probably work for numerous companies during my life and a company can replace me by one of many job applicants, so no need to be stressed out. Each side survives :).

The hard part - for me - is to decide where is a fine line between being passive and being lenient. I mean that you should show that something matters sometimes instead of giving a silent approval. Be it positive or negative feedback.

My parents are also currently a reminder that a life is long but not infinite since my grand-parental generation recently died out and every time I look at them I see how they grew old so fast. I strive to treasure moments but I'm an imperfect being and have a long way to learn how to do it better :).

(I still got pretty depressed by Mass Effect 3, though, lol. Took some time to shake it off.)

Had a dawning moment regarding my own health this evening. I won't go into details because it's actually quite gross, but I had a situation with my body that finally rectified itself after a few days of hell.

Also, I finished my Christmas shopping for one person so far, though tbh I only buy gifts for a few people so I get those chosen few a lot of stuff.

~Cym

Today I realized that the only person I can truly count on 100% of the time is myself. This isn't related to GOG in any way, it's just a fact of life.

+1 to survival skills -1 to philanthropy.