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Yes the situation is bad right now...but all we can do is weather the storm and some how make the best of it...I just thank god that I don't even own a credit card because I don't buy things unless I can afford them..I have always been like that...I have a good job..... and that this economic downturn has had very little effect on me and my family...However I am not soooooooo blind to believe that I am the norm...probably more like the exception....and I feel for every single person who has been hit and effected by the economic downturn...hopefully some lessons can be learned and one of them is that we can't survive in just a credit based society..without something concrete to back it up.....it just isn't gonna work anymore...

You are one of a kind. God bless your heritage.

Hey gentlepaws. . .what Hugz said
She's cute AND smart! I couldn't have said it better myself.

Aweeeeeeeeeee...Thanx doll and Leo...Please don't sell yourselfs short though...you are both incredible individuals in your own right....and Happy New Year to you both...and a better 2009 for us allllllll.....

Our first nations people had it right in the first place, then we had to sail over here and fuck everything up. And that is a "Fact".

Dear Paws...I did not read this, but I just wanted to wish you a very, very happy New Year's.

Happy New Year, Leo. I hope you'll forgive me for not feeling guilty to be an American and for making it a personal habit to walk the walk before I talk the talk.

I hope that 2009 is, for you, every bit as gloomy and despairing as you seem to think it will be. (And I mean that in a good way - You're a decent guy and I'd hate to see you disappointed!)

As for me, I'll continue to marvel at sunrises and ooh & ahh over sunsets and find pleasures in simple things. And I'll continue to feel proud and greatful for living in America even if things aren't exactly the utopia that some seem to think they were back in the good old days and it's not the politically correct thing to do. ...And I'll continue to live simply and well and keep on walking the walk before I talk the talk. And when someone suggests that I have my head in the sand or in the clouds, I'll continue to smile enigmatically and reply that there's worse places I could have it...

Just one of the many reasons that I value your friendship Don. You have a very profoundly simple outlook on life that I wish could be imparted wholesale upon the entirety of humanity. We would be far better off and I am certain this would have staved off this material doom that seems to be entrenching itself in the lives of far too many people worldwide.
Thank you for being you... it does give me something to strive for.

The bill ain't mine. I didn't live beyond my means and for such, have nothing to be taken from me. I'll dodge this recession like I did the last one and if comes down to a depression I'm smart enough to make it through and if the system is overhauled or goes to hell, so much the better.
I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Thanks, Mark!

Highly interesting thread.......makes me think like this however....

there is no better lesson one can learn then when he hits rock bottom.

That is when logic of necessity takes over, and things start to find their real balance.

I was brought up by parents who met, got married and started a family in the worst possible scenario....when Malta was under continuous ariel bombing for four years by the Axis powers during WW2.

It was ingrained in our genes since childhood, that there is no place for excess.

And that is what has happened in the US, a crave of excesses. And is now rebounding all across the globe.

Western civilization has become too greedy. It wants all and it wants it now. And nobody really wants to roll up the sleeves and put some sweat in it.....

Maybe this present situation will bring back clarity in our vision of what life is all about......living....

not getting rich at all cost.

Peace to all, and may it be a fruitful year ahead for all of us.

Hey Paws...Forgive me. It's New Years and I'm feeling philosophical just like many others. I was hoping to add a different perspective just as food for thought.

We're all here for different reasons, even though most of us are single at the moment. Some are actively looking, some are still smarting from a failed relationship, some are emotionally wounded, or confused, or bedridden, or unbalanced, or bored, or they are scammers, assholes, or God knows what.

But you have to know that many people here are also living in worlds of pain. They may wear it on their sleeves and ask for help, or they may choose not to share it because it's simply too deep and private. Either way, there are many here who are genuinly troubled or hurting - and often it is some of the funniest people who are suffering the most.

Should they be judged because they want to have fun instead of discussing the demise of the human condition? If they are here to escape the gloom and doom, why would they want to perpetuate it? Does it mean they don't care? I don't think so. I've seen tremendous amounts of care and compassion exchanged on the forums. Of course, we all should be concerned about our growing problems, but is it really reasonable to judge the character of a person on a dating forum simply because they are not devoted to raising social consciousness?

WhatIwish4 on this New Year's day is that everyone could just stop long enough to acknowledge that there is often a lot of sadness living behind these pixels, and that it's just as easy to walk away as it is to provoke. If we really want to raise our social conscious, maybe we should try focusing on all that is great and good in this world and also not be so quick to condemn one another (although clearly some deserve to be criticized for their hurtful comments). The gloom and doom perspective never seems to accomplish anything positive. Why not try letting a little light shine in?

Good post! Thanks or taking the time to write this.

Thanks John. I've had a few mudfights here myself, and I've also snapped at some who posted really nasty stuff. I as guilty as most, but hey... What is the harm in a reminder here and there?

Excellent post, Karen. To kind've answer your question, I think Leo is an activist. And it's been my experience that activists are less concerned with letting light shine in than they are with telling us how dark things are.

(JMO)

I started writing personal emails to the ones I find the most difficult here on the Forums. I don't think it will change anything, but I don't like fighting it out in public on the Threads.

Hey...He cares and it shows, just like you care and it shows. I've just done a lot of thinking and working on matters of "perspective" this year and tend to find greater success after I've turned over every little pebble and rearranged my perspective a bit. Sometimes it's damn difficult to find those little nuggets of goodness, but if you look hard enough you can almost always find one.

Have to run now.

Happy New Year everyone.

Sorry, Leo, but my vagina is a very important part of my real life.



Sorry. Couldn't help it, really.