I'm just logging off after this post to get ready for work. I could take some more time off, but I have a lot to catch up on and I need to get busy. If I get too tired, I'll come home. But now I must run. Have a good day, all.
Not sure where you're going with this or if it is directed to one person in particular, but the simple answer is that you are certainly free to ask questions via email. The nature of your questions, however, will determine whether or not you will receive a reply. But surely you know this. I'm a bit confused.
Oh, well....time to get ready for work. Good luck.
Thanks to those who added comments while I was asleep.
Ken, I will be on meds for another 10 days or so and will go back for tests in a couple of weeks, but it appears that I'm properly on the mend. It was a severe kidney infection and I had to be on intraveionous antibiotics for awhile and they had to monitor my fever spikes. Thanks for your nice post, as always.
Interestingly, I see 2 more pages of posts were added while I was sleeping. And I read them all. And my original question rings true just from this very thread. What can I learn from this?
Interesting observations, Galactic. Your 3rd one, particularly, strikes a chord at the moment. While I was in the hospital, I became familiar with several other patients and their families. I won't say that I got to know them, for our communication was stifled (my Greek is still not as strong as I wish it was and the people I am referring to spoke no English). Some of these patients were in dire condition...one woman was 38 and cancer has ravaged her body. Her husband sat with her night and day and I visited with them a few times. He is suffering....he is losing the woman he loves, way too soon. When I was leaving, I stopped in her room to give them a few toiletries and things and to say goodbye. We hugged each other and I turned and left the room before they could see my tears. Yes, suffering brings people together. And my few visits with them, barely able to say much to each other, will stay with me forever. His scraggly beard, his same red t-shirt and blue jeans that he'd been wearing for days, her bald head and pink pajamas...these images will remain in my heart. Had they been a young couple celebrating their wedding or some joyous occasion, I would never have spent any time with them. Maybe a bad comparison, but it's what immediately came to my mind when I read your 3rd notation. Maybe it's just because I have also been thinking of them a lot since I left. Sigh.
Very well put, Ambrose. You nailed it. And, of course, you have pissed me off in the process. I hate it when your words are more descriptive and spot-on than mine are!
Hiya, Ambrose. Yes, olive trees!!! The gods themselves planted them, you know.
As for the lesson in life about perspective and how we experience events....what I'm learning is that I must re-examine my perspective at times. I must pay attention to my initial reaction to something and then, if my reaction was negative, try to look at it again from a different angle. Generally speaking, this means that I must de-personalize it a bit. Again, hard to explain, but I am finding that, in trying to find a positive lesson, I'm releasing burdens. I've always known this, but I'm really putting it to practice now and I like the effect that it has on me...on my soul, if you will. Will go to sleep soon, but want you to know that it's always a pleasure to see you here. Hope all is well.
And isn't this a peaceful place to be in life, Jan? To look around you, see what you have, know what you don't have, and to recognize that it's the orange groves, the olive trees, the friends, the family....these are the things that bring you contentment.
I've been making a few changes in my life lately. Nothing major, nothing really noticeable to others, most likely. But little changes here and there that are just for me. Chief among the changes is asking myself "what can I learn from this?" more often and really trying to learn from something that has happened. I was recently hospitalized for a number of days (came home on Friday) and had a lot of time to just lie in bed and think about things. I realized that I've let many of life's lessons pass me by because I simply reacted to a situation but didn't ever really try to learn from it. Or, I was only learning negative responses. For example, if a friend disappointed me, I might have taken away a negative lesson such as "don't count on others" or something similar. Now I am trying to take something positive out of my experiences, even if the experiences themselves are somewhat negative. Hard to explain, but I feel a tremendous weight is already being lifted from my shoulders. I'm not, by nature, a negative person. I am easy-going, generally cheerful, and good-hearted. But I allowed negative situations to impact me in ONLY a negative way. Trying now to find something positive out of the bad times is enlightening. It's a work in progress, but I feel good.
So I ask others here....what about you? Are you trying to make any changes in yourself? If so, what are you hoping to change? And how is it going so far?
Again, I'm in complete agreement....particularly when you say "Do I or should I have to take it on the shoulder because someone else is too goofed up about life that they make a jigsaw puzzle out of everything that is said to them?" We seem to have forgotten how to employ common sense in much of what we do. Frivolous and harmful accusations abound and the courts are full of nonsensical litigations. What ever happened to reason? What ever happened to common sense? Aaaaarrrggghhh!
Regardless of whether or not the OP is legit, I'll address the basic premise of the question.
As for me, I wouldn't accept an international ticket paid for by someone who I would be meeting for the first time. I wouldn't accept a domestic ticket, either, for that matter. I don't want to ever feel any obligation to anyone and the cost of the ticket puts me in a position of obligation. If we met and didn't hit it off, then what?? No, it's just too extreme for my comfort level. If I wanted to meet him bad enough, I'd buy my own ticket and make all of my arrangements. Conversely, if he wanted to see me bad enough, he'd find a way to come to where I am when he could take some time off from work. But I would be very slow in coming to such a decision...I would take time in getting to know him via chats, cam conversations, phone calls. When the desire and the need to meet is so strong that I can't put it off any longer (feeling that I may be letting something wonderful slip through my fingers if I don't take the plunge)... only then would I make my flight AND hotel arrangements. And I'd have a plan B...what to do, where to go, if things aren't as I had hoped they would be.
I just popped in to kill about 20 minutes before I head out of town. It's a 3-day weekend for us (Labor Day) and a friend of mine had to work this morning (she is a Marine Security Guard). So I'm waiting for her to finish her shift, then she and I will get in my car and head out for the day/night/and most of tomorrow. We're going to a lovely area only about an hour or so out of Athens, but she hasn't been there yet and they have nice beaches. Also, a Greek friend who lives there is celebrating his name day, so we will join in the festivities.
I'd have gone somewhere this weekend, regardless of her availability, so I wouldn't have spent this holiday weekend online.
I just will never understand why people continue to confuse LOVE with interest, desire, or some other passionate emotion. I implore everyone...not just you, Lahela, to use the word "love" with caution and respect. Maybe it's because I'm older and (hopefully) wiser, maybe it's because I have learned through experience how to differentiate between love and longing. Loving one's personality is only a part of the equation....this is what my friends bring to me. I love my male friends for who they are and for their personalities, but I am not IN love with them. You simply MUST have the face-to-face, sit across from each other or next to each other conversation. Look into his eyes, watch what makes him smile, see what stimulates him, then see if he is noticing the same in you. I'm sorry things didn't work out, but I'm not really surprised. Put everything you are out on the table first....photos, voice, writings, laughter, your very being. Take the same from him. Then, and only then, can you even come close to love. Ahhhhhh, I can go on preaching about this til I'm blue in the face! Ladies! Gentlemen! Love needs time, love requires knowing, love requires intimacy, love requires understanding, love requires being with a person, love needs touch and being together. To go too fast, too heavy...this, to me, cheapens what true love really is. Sigh.
My most simple answer is that I would never give up my children. I never cheated on a spouse, but leaving my children isn't something I could ever have done.
Yes, and so is that last opportunity to hear his/her voice right before drifting off to sleep. Texting is fine and good, but not nearly as sweet as hearing a voice, when it is from a particular someone.
I have been here for about the same amount of time, Ken (around 3 years or maybe even more), but have not been actively searching or seeking for a very long time. I joined because I wanted to hopefully meet men in my area who had nothing to do with my job in any way and, being an American abroad, I was finding that all whom I met were indeed introduced to me through some affiliation to my work. I've met men, I've dated, and I've never regretted being on this site. But have I met "THE ONE"??? No, I have not. But it's ok, really, for I have had more positive experiences than I have negative. I've made virtual friends and very real life friends. I haven't found love, but I've found some wonderful people who enrich my life... some here on the Forums, some whom I have met here in Greece, some with whom I only communicate by messages. Do I think it will happen for me (as you asked)? No.
A brief text exchange is fine, but when it goes back and forth and back and forth, over and over again, I get aggravated. I think "why didn't you just call me?"
Why can't we all be Popeye? I yam what I yam, and that's all I ever shall be...
Works for women as well as for men, you know. I am what I am. I am all I ever shall be. And this is not a bad thing, mates. Did I crush some male spirits along the way? I sincerely doubt it. At most, I was not what someone wanted me to be. Their problem, not mine, for I am not an actress.
One cannot possibly answer this question. Nobility and success are not generally mutually compatible. Also, what I might perceive to have been the case about someone who lived thousands of years ago might shock me if I was confronted with that same individual today. I am a lover of history and, particularly, of ancient Greek history. It would be so easy to say that Alexander the Great or Aristotle were noble and successful, but how the hell do I really know? In counquering nations, tribes, cities, people...Alexander would have slaughtered many innocents along the way (as he did, undoubtedly)...is this noble? Was Aristotle noble and successful, or was he merely, in his day, a weirdo? Aristotle believed that women were a lower form of life...do you think I might view this as noble?
Anyway, there is no good answer to your question, for all on your list could be debated and all are subjective.
However... if you want the real answer to your question... The most noble and successful of all time would surely be .. hang on a sec...phone is ringing...BRB
The man that I want... He will captivate my brain as well as he will delight my eyes and my libido. He will challenge me to think, but will not patronize or condescend. He will entice me to be more than I know I can be. He will tease me and make fun of me in a light-hearted way and I will do the same to him, only better. And he will be ok with this, for he will expect nothing less. He will be an amazing lover, both tender and fierce. He will want to know why I am sad today, or why I was joyous earlier. He is my imagination. He is my fantasy. He is the one I want to share my heart, soul, mind, and body with. He is most of all intelligent and aware of himself, but not cocky about who he is. He loves me. He will love me more tomorrow than he does today. He needs me. He loves me. He desires me. Sigh. Yes, it's a big list. The problem is mine. I want it all. But what should I eliminate from my list? You asked, I told. This is what I want, and this is why I feel that I will forever come up empty. I want too much.
I do indeed have opinions on many things; others are just fact and opinions play no part. I have no beef with you whatsoever; this is merely a discussion and I am happy to have such discussions. But I am curious to know what it is that I wrote that could be seriously debated? Keep in mind that I wrote that the handling of a president's schedule is done in the same manner regardless of which party currently holds power and that no president involves himself with every tiny detail. Where is there a flaw or any area of contention in what I stated?
I write with complete certainty (not opinion) because I am in a position to know how these things work...and have been in such a position through both Republican and Democratic presidencies.
But I am respectful of your thoughts and appreciate your responses.
I used a very crude example merely to illustrate a point...and that is that NO president involves himself with the minutiae of every detail of planning for his travels, his appointments, his speeches, his public appearances, his interviews, his social events, etc. It's just not possible and it's just not done, regardless of whether he is Republican or Democrat. This is all I am saying, and I would say the same if this same topic was being discussed while Bush was in office. I am not voicing my opinion about either party here or about any president, current or past. I am simply stating that your implication that Obama personally oversees every bit of planning for everything he does is no more possible than it would have been for Bush. This isn't how it works, folks, whether you are on the left, right, center, or on a fence.
He approves the end result, most likely. It may be presented to him as this (only a hypothetical example)"
0700: Depart for Air Force One 0725: Wheels Up 0930: Arrive Belgrade, Montana 0935: Media spray on tarmac 0940: Depart for hangar 0945: Arrive hangar for Town Hall meeting 0947: Introduction at Town Hall by Joe Blow etc., etc.
This is, of course, a very crude sample. OK...so, he looks at it and says "It looks fine, but tell me more about the media spray arrangements". Again, just a crude example. But prior to being given such a schedule to approve, he doesn't know every minor addition or change that went into it. This is just how it works, no matter who the President is.
Thalassa Forum Posts (2,410)
What can I learn from this?
I'm just logging off after this post to get ready for work. I could take some more time off, but I have a lot to catch up on and I need to get busy. If I get too tired, I'll come home. But now I must run. Have a good day, all.