Conference quark::human_relations-v1

    Good topic, Nancy.
    
    I don't know what "people" want out of life, but I do know what
    I want, and what I live for.  My relationships are important to
    me--more than anything else in my life--with my partner, with my
    family, with my friends, with my students, with myself, etc.  Having
    TIME is important, too--time for exercising my creativity, for
    relaxing, for listening, for loving--for many things.  But most
    of all I want the most and best out of every day--whatever that
    day is.  Sometimes a bad day can help me realize how good the good
    days are--!  I live to appreciate things, too--a new book, or a
    good old book, a good meal, an accomplishment, a "little victory",
    a letter from a dear friend;  even a good sleep.
    
    I wish I could be the kind of person who says that what they REALLY
    want from life is to be a famous brainsurgeon, but I'm me.  One
    thing I really do live for is to help people around me feel good
    about themselves--especially my students.  I like to see them happy
    with themselves, and more confident.
    
    I also look forward to growing older, smarter, taking myself less
    seriously, and to growth and change.
    
    Hope this helps,
    
    Jane

To explore.
To discover tomorrow.
To experience the unexpected.
To frollic in the adventure.


	~Mike

    
        I would be pleased if I could look at each day and say to myself
    that today ... I helped someone. It doesnt matter what it was that
    I did or how important but just so that my being here made a difference
    to someone else.
    
        Life is a great adventure and a collection of feelings and
    experiences. My worst fear is that I will have been here and nobody
    noticed.
    
    Steve 

    And get some cuddling, too.
    
    Lee

    Do we have to have a reason? Isn't enjoying the show enough?
    
    	Jon

    Well, when thinking about "What do we live for", I am reminded of
    the following poem by Emily Dickinson. This is an ideal of mine
    which I strive for.
    
    If I can stop one heart from breaking
    I shall not live in vain;
    If I can ease one life the aching,
    or cool one pain,
    Or help one fainting Robin 
    Unto his nest again,
    I shall not live in vain
    	By
    		Emily Dickinson
    
    Ken
    

    
    What makes you so sure that we are alive?

     
    re: .8
        
    >What makes you so sure that we are alive?

    Death could not be this weird.
    
    DFW

    What do I want out of life?   To serve God (whoever He is...). 
    What does He want me to do?   Dunno, so that gives me something
    to do to start with (ie to think about it).
    
    Since I can't PROVE the existence of God, that implies life is absurd
    (a topic from existentialist authors that's always appealed to me). But
    that doesn't mean I'm not living it... and have to decide what God
    wants me to do (if anything - I don't expect to have any big personal
    mission - there's a lot of us about).
    
    Apologies to any feminists about the sexist nomenclature, by the
    way - I also think God's bigger than any gender classifications,
    but the idea of a personal relationship with the Creator is easier
    to put, I think, with a simile of God the Father than with any
    generic life-force description, or with hard-to-explain non-gender
    personification.

    (Not necessarily incompatible with .11)... from a recently-heard
    lyric (US?)
    
    I did not put you here to suffer,
    I did not put you here to moan,
    I put you all here to love one another,
    and go out and have some fun...
    Let my people gogo, let my people go gogo...
    

    
    re: .9
    
    >Live each day as if you are going to live for another 30 years.
     You just might.
    
     I take the view...
    
     Live each day as if it is your last .... at least one day you'll
    get it right !!
    
    be lucky,
    
    Steve
    
    ps.. don't mean to sound flip.. but I'm here to enjoy it !
    

    RE .8 "DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU,TOVARISCH, BUT I AM !
    
                                    R.Heinlein

    Being is Nothingness.

	    -	Sartre

Storybook endings never appear,
They're just someone's way of leading us here...

				- Dan Fogelberg

With that in mind I take life as it comes and enjoy it while I can.

Bahama Mama

    
    I once saw some graffiti that summed it up.
    
    
            _ Birth
    	   (
    	   |
    Life = |   Sex/Love.
    	   |
           )
          -  Death
    
	ie - Life is the integral of sex or love between the limits
    of birth and death.
    
    Paul.
    

		    ..
		  .    .
		  |
		  |  X
		  | e
		  |
		  |
	      .   .
	       .  .
	         .

    I have found all the "pleasures" of life" never really fulfill me.
    In fact,they often produce guilt and/or pain if "used" excessively
    (like over eating, etc.).
    For me I'm finding the answers to life reside within me and can
    be obtained if I choose Peace Of Mind as my only goal. To reach
    this POM requires that I be willing to overlook my "mistakes" and
    those of others, with compassion,understanding and love. In other
    words I must be willing to be a love giver rather than a fault finder.
    
    This is helping me to understand that all of life, the real life,
    is living in the moment (which is all any of us really have ) and
    letting the past go, totally. The future is similar... forget it
    because none of us has a guarantee
    on it.
    
    The reason we all find it so hard to live in the moment is because
    society , in general , wouldn"t like an en-lightened population
    that didn't need external controls or problem solvers.
    
    If I could see clearly for myself why would I need external motivation?
    
    Anyone who wants to know more about finding their own POM ,without
    my help (which would also be your external motivation from me) can
    contact me and I'll identify some sources of help...but
    remember ultimately it's your responsibility to choose the world
    you wish to see. In summary, there's two worlds --the world of chaos
    and the world of love. We do choose the one we want whether we believe
    it or not.
    
    Hope this helps some of you as you have helped me.
    Bob

    If you wanted to contact me by phone I work in Maynard ,in the Mill,
    and can be reached @ 223-2349.
    

    To fulfill my role - whatever that may be - and when I have outlived
    my usefullness to become part of the history.  
    
    

    What do I live for...
    
    To make the most of myself and my life,
    To have a Hell of a good time,
    To love,
    To learn,
    To experience.

    I'm in it to enjoy the trip.

    Jerri
    
    [Neat notesfile...thanks, Carole, for telling me about it.]

    The reason that I continue to live is because I have something to
    accomplish that has yet to be completed.  My purpose, I believe,
    is to communicate with myself, with others, and to help others learn
    to communicate also.  I am fortunate in having a tremendous ability
    in this area, and I do the best I can to accomplish this purpose
    daily.  This, I feel, is the meaning behind the desire for all the
    other good things in life.  These other things enhance my life and
    make it worthwhile; however, these are not the primary purpose of
    my existence.  There is a saying that goes, "If you wonder if you've
    made it, you haven't, or you wouldn't be here."  There's a lot of
    truth in that saying if you are a believer in reincarnation (which
    I am).  My purpose is helping me to "get there."
    
    Barb

    "The meaning of life is that it stops."  Franz Kafka

    I am a self concious machine.  I desire to know how I work.  My
    goal is to understand that.  I realize that I may not have enough
    time time to complete my program.  I hope the information that I
    gain will no be wasted, but I don't mind if it does.  I will have
    understood what I know.  I only wish I could build a machine as
    incredible as a moth and here I am a human.  Anyway its all bull
    pizzle.
    
    Be seeing you,
        Dunc
    

    Imagine...
    
    		...imagine your playing a game...
    
    	...Action/adventure; a role playing game
    
    One with rules and goals; and an end.
    
    The rules are long and complicated as well as open to interpretation,
    so I won't go over them here, but the goals may be simple.
    
    To play, you create a character with certain atributes.  You have
    a long list of attributes from which to choose and a weight or scale
    for each.  This character has a job to perform in his quest for
    his goal, be it cleric, warrior, etc, etc.
    
    His goal is simply stated, though nothing so simple as obtaining
    a mere object or treasure.  In fact, his goal is multi-fold.  His
    first goal is simply to identify the fact that he/she *is* a created
    character in a simple game.  The next goal is more subtle, to find
    out *what* piece he/she is!
    
    The ultimate goal is for him/her to identify "whose" playing piece he
    or she is.
    
    For, you see, "YOU" are God and "I" am the playing piece!
    
    Me?  I've obtained my first goal, I *know* it's a game.  However,
    I do not know what 'piece' I am, yet.  And I do not know 'whose'
    piece I am, for you see, "YOUR" opponent is satan himself, and this
    is the game of LIFE!
    
    See you on the playing field!
    jim
    

    To Play the Game.
    
    know for round 2

    To play the music.
    
    Steve
    

    To listen to the music . . . 
    
    --bonnie

    To Play,  After all its the only game in town!
    

    in re .30 in re .29 :-)

    
    
    
                                  Tomorrow
    
    

	< Note 250.33 by COMET::BERRY "Howie Mandel in a previous life." >
                                  -< Simple. >-

    
    
    
                                       Today
    
    

    
    To see DEC produce something on time...

       
       
       	And then ship enough on time...
       
       							mike

Hugh - "Then why not jump?"

Fred - "Spite."

Hugh - "Spite?"

Fred - "Yeah, think of all the turkeys we disappointed by not jumping!"

  - Dan O'Neill, "Odds Bodkins"


"Life is not worth living, but suicide's a waste of time."

  - Lester Bangs, song title


Hmmm, guess I've been a little depressed lately...
Ray

    I live for...
    
    My husband, my family, my home, children, success, love, laughter,
    learning, and simply because I was put here for all theses reasons.
    
    TB  

And from a song...

      "Everybody wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to die"

      

    From another song:
    
    "I've conquered my past
     the future is here at last
     I stand here at the entrance
     To a new world I can see
     The ruins to the right of me
     Will soon have lost sight of me..."
    
    What do we live for indeed....what do we die for?   
    
    kim