strongly disagree.

Kaustuv1.

if one thinks all shall hurt one self, as a man, than that is good truth for him, but to try to shed this truth for a man onto a women as some good guide for decision making, is but an acceptance and beckoning so asking for pain unto a women...

no way.

the truth of a mans honor be totally different than the truth of a womens honor.

but some men try to make a women be as them self truthfully feel they them self should be...

which cause many a complications and xtra pain unneeded.

This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much, all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soul-mate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're going to fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about. :-)

David!

Your "Dissidence" Stands Accepted. After All, You Are An Individual & Individuality Is Important For Every Human Being. :-) Keep Smiling. :-)

Parents may profess to love their children unconditionally. But how often do children test the limits of parental love? Couples in the first blush of new love may make dewy-eyed promises to love each other for better or for worse. But how often do such promises give way to betrayal and recrimination? Still, it's an amazing gift when it does happen. And it's one that we all want. We all want someone who will love us forever, through thick and thin, no matter what we do or become.


Part of me thinks that unconditional love is the highest form of love. Most religions certainly seem to believe that. That's why they attribute unconditional love for all mankind to God. It's why Christ commands Christians to love thy neighbor as thyself. But, of course, unconditional love is easy for God -- with his infinite patience and boundless capacity to forgive. You can't hurt God - not really. But humans are vulnerable. In us, too much hurt, betrayal or disappointment kills even the deepest, most enduring love.


Of course, it's one thing to focus on the work it takes for us to give or sustain unconditional love. That's hard, I admit. But think about what it's like to be the recipient of such love. That seems, at first blush, to be a really good thing to the recipient of. Who wouldn't want to be loved unconditionally, despite all your flaws and failings?


On the other hand, part of me thinks that maybe unconditional love isn't all it's cracked up to be. Don'�t people want to be loved and appreciated for who and what they are? When somebody loves me unconditionally, doesn't that mean they don'�t care who I am or what I do and they are blind to my particularity? But isn't love about delighting in the particularity of the other?


But maybe that's being too quick to dismiss. I mean just because you love somebody unconditionally, doesn't mean you don't care about what they are or what they do. Presumably, if you love them, you want them to be their best self. You might even hope and believe that your love will help them become that. The "unconditional" part of unconditional love just means that you won't withdraw love when things go badly.


Still it seems to me that bad behavior on the part of the beloved has to have consequences or else the lover becomes a mere patsy. Think of battered women who won't give up on their abusive partners. That is not a model of "unconditional" love, that's a model of person with a damaged sense of self-worth who is, perhaps, in a state denial, Even when it is unconditional, genuine love doesn't just involve passive acceptance and blind forgiveness. Unconditional love can be tough and demanding. When our children do bad things, we punish them. We give them stern messages. But we still love them. In fact, we punish them because we love them. Unconditional love may be selfless, but it isn't self-destructive.


What does selfless mean though? Selfless love is love that never asks what's in it for me. Rather, it is always asking what's in it for the beloved. What do I need to do to make the life of the beloved better, no matter the cost to myself? Paradoxically, perhaps, when you love somebody unconditionally, it actually puts you in a unique position to hold them to high standards. That's because when you love them unconditionally, there is no threat involved in your holding them to such standards since the very holding is itself rooted in an act of love. You can think of unconditional love as an offer to the beloved for a precious resource that is used for the good and betterment of the beloved.

Are most human beings really capable of the kind of this kind of relentlessly other-directed selflessness? For most of us, doesn't the self just get in the way? Even when we think we're acting out of selfless devotion, we often have hidden selfish motives. We sometimes tell ourselves that romantic love is selfless. But romantic love wants to be reciprocated. That makes it almost the opposite of selfless.


Still, I wouldn't be too quick to underestimate people. Some people really seem to have an amazing capacity for selfless love. It is also important to stress, though, that unconditional love is a gift, not an entitlement. Nobody really deserves our unconditional love. Nobody has the right to demand that you love them selflessly. That would be, well, pretty selfish of them, wouldn't it? Christ commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves not out of a sense of duty and obligation, but out of a sense of selfless generosity and charity.


Is this anything more than a nice sounding ideal, that fails to apply to most people, most of the time? I sure hope so. I would much rather live in a world in which unconditional love is a concrete reality in many people'�s lives than in a world in which it is absent. When I think about where to locate concrete examples of unconditional love, I think about parents and their children. If we're going to find real live examples of unconditional love anywhere, parents are a good place to start looking. Children can put their parents through an awful lot. But I'd like to think that through it all parental love typically remains entirely undiminished. Some philosophers have actually argued that parental love is the purest form of love. That's because in its healthiest form, parent love is selfless in the sense I articulated above. And though parents may love in the hope that their love will one day be reciprocated, such love begins without even the expectation of the possibility of reciprocation and it will happily persist undiminished even in the absence of eventual reciprocation....!

[Ken Taylor]

This is a downside of internet dating sites, people you were in contact with just stop communicating,it has happened to me. I wonder just how genuine they really were.

Welcome to Mingle2 and good luck in your search.

When she tires, Jenny Crain's eyes take on a look of fear and confusion. She appears to be searching for something far removed her immediate surroundings. Perhaps a part of her recovering brain is reflecting back on a day when she ran with the best in the country, when she sustained strength and speed mile after mile. Perhaps she's looking for a finish line somewhere in the future, a place where her mind once again engages fully and energetically. The well-regarded local athlete celebrated a significant step toward that finish line on Monday, when her brother and mother moved her from the Mt. Carmel Health and Rehabilitation Center in Greenfield to a private apartment, where she will live with a roommate and a caregiver. I'm kind of excited about it, to use what I learned here in the outside world," Jenny Crain said, while preparing to leave Mt. Carmel. "I've made a lot of progress. My friends and family have noticed it too. I feel stronger." No one could have guaranteed that Jenny, 41, would have recovered to this point, after a car crashed into her on Aug. 21, 2007. When she stepped off the curb at N. Farwell Ave. and E. Brady St. that morning, Crain was near the end of a routine training run, part of her preparation for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Marathon trials. It would have been her fourth run in that elite competition. The crash and the devastating brain injuries forced her into a much different marathon, one without a familiar training blueprint or a certain distance. John Brant described her challenges beautifully last month in Runner's World Magazine. Crain put them in simpler terms on Monday. Jenny Crain, with brother Peter, preparing to leave Mt. Carmel Rehabilitation Center on Monday. Photo by Tom Held "I was aware of what it took to be a good runner," Crain said, while preparing to leave Mt. Carmel. "That wasn't quite as hard." In better moments, Crain answers questions directly and flashes the wit and compassion that made her a magnetic figure among runners in Milwaukee and the elite national ranks. She routinely encouraged others, whether dueling in a U.S. National Championship or setting the pace in the Briggs & Al's Run. On Monday, she chatted knowingly about the cold wind that often blows during the Lakefront Discovery Run and the wisdom of tucking in behind other runners. She brightened at the prospect of the treats to be shared at her farewell party, laughing, "I'm going to have my cake and eat it too." And she used the occasion as something of an audition for a future career as a motivational speaker. "Whatever the situation, 'Make it Happen,'" she told her fellow patients, quoting the motto born during her running days and carried over to the fund designated to help pay for her ongoing rehabilitation needs. Those needs are great. Crain is unable to walk and has stood on her own on only two occasions since the crash. She has difficulty swallowing and needs assistance with many of the demands of daily living. And despite her remarkable improvements, Crain has severe cognitive challenges yet to overcome. Her periods of lucid engagement and spot-on long-term memory quickly dissipate, and she falls frequently into patterns of depression, repeating phantom complaints and morbid thoughts in a monotone voice. "It's something she struggles with, and probably will forever," Peter Crain said. While she engaged in talks about races and events on Monday, she also wandered off track mentally, confused about time and place. She tires after about 10 or 15 minutes of either physical or mental activity. Medical science is far from definitive in predicting how much more improvement to expect for someone who suffered such massive brain trauma. The need for care and rehabilitation likely has no end. "This is the rest of Jenny's life," her brother said. Donna Crain remains convinced, however, that Jenny has not hit the wall in her recovery. Significant improvements in her ability to remain engaged in conversations and utilize short-term memory have fueled that optimism over the past four to six months. "I don't put a limit on it," Donna Crain said. "I see Jenny being close to what she was before, without the elite running status." Jenny herself has begun to show a greater recognition of who she was, and who she is, which has both benefits and painful implications. Jenny Crain in her prime at the 2007 Boston Marathon. She sat with her mother on Sunday, and watched a bit of the ING New York City Marathon on television. Five years ago, that race provided one of her pinnacle moments as an athlete. Strong and determined, she engaged her mind and body solidly for 2 hours 41 minutes and crossed the finish line 15th overall among women, the top American female. She had little patience for the race on television. As Donna related, "she said, 'Don't you think I'd rather be running the marathon myself?" :-)

Very Well Said (DuttoNeer) And Very True Indeed!

I imagine that sometimes people don't see eye to eye.. It's all good.

You're right Duttoneer, but for me it's not "a downside of dating sites"...It's more an upside...When you're emailing someone, it doesn't take long to get a handle on the compatibility odds for friendship and/or romance...If they are not favorable, the communication process just dies a natural (and very civilized) death....

all the way to the real bank of something besides feel good rhetoric.

being in love with one's own personal feelings and space in time of self experience has nothing to do with the pain or pleasure reality that others will experience, so should have no bearing on the words spoken as advice on their path.

When life is getting you down,
And you need a little hope.
Look deep down inside yourself,
And you'll find the way to cope.

When life is getting you down,
And you need a little love.
Go to the person whom you are the closest,
As the rest they are above.

When life is getting you down,
And all you need is a laugh.
Find the friend that makes you smile,
They may even be your staff.

When life is getting you down,
Don't allow it so.
Change the way you think of life,
And life will be better, you know.

When life is getting you down,
Take time to pray
Don't allow yourself to frown
God will help you see the good in the day.


"Whoever falls from God's right hand, Is Caught Into His Left." :-)

"Edwin Markham"

As you travel through life there are always those times
When decisions just have to be made,
When the choices are hard, and solutions seem scarce,
And the rain seems to soak your parade.

There are some situations where all you can do
Is simply let go and move on,
Gather your courage and choose a direction
That carries you toward a new dawn.

So pack up your troubles and take a step forward -
The process of change can be tough,
But think about all the excitement ahead

There might be adventures you never imagined
Just waiting around the next bend,
And wishes and dreams just about to come true
In ways you can't yet comprehend!

Perhaps you'll find friendships
that spring from new things
As you challenge your status quo,
And learn there are so many options in life,

Perhaps you'll go places you never expected
And see things that you've never seen,
Or travel to fabulous, faraway worlds
And wonderful spots in between!

Perhaps you'll find warmth and affection and caring
And somebody special who's there
To help you stay cantered and listen with interest
To stories and feelings you share.

Perhaps you'll find comfort in knowing your friends
Are supportive of all that you do,
And believe that whatever decisions you make,
They'll be the right choices for you.

So keep putting one foot in front of the other,
And taking your life day by day...
There's a brighter tomorrow that's just down the road -
Don't look back! You're not going that way! :-)

David:
You Are Correct! :-)

It takes strength to be firm, it takes courage to be gentle.
It takes strength to conquer, it takes courage to surrender.
It takes strength to be certain, it takes courage to have doubt.
It takes strength to fit in, it takes courage to stand out.

It takes strength to feel a friend's pain, it takes courage to feel your own pain.
It takes strength to endure abuse, it takes courage to stop it.
It takes strength to stand alone, it takes courage to lean on another.
It takes strength to love, it takes courage to be loved.

It takes strength to survive, it takes courage to live. :-)




When evening comes the shadows grow, as the sun begins to set.
Take care that you don't come to know, a thing that's called regret.
Not what you try or what you do, throughout a carefree youth.
It's what you don't you'll come to rue, when time reveals it's truth.



There is wisdom to be had from mistaken words and acts.
You'll find that failure's not so bad, it strengthens you in fact.
Rejection's fear or the fear of failure, that paralyzes you.
Is the stuff of tears and that which keeps you dreams from coming true.



It takes a certain kind of nerve to tell someone you care.
But then nature tends to serve the person who would dare.
Bravery isn't something you can cultivate from seed.
It must be conjured up anew each time that there's a need.



So take these words and hold them close,
it's certain you'll find that,
one second of courage to speak from the heart
will result in you hearing them back. :-)

yep...

praise be to jesus!

Could it be feminine odor??

sorry...

couldn't resit...