[valley]

wow, beautifully said, dear lady!

[BanditFlyer]

Originally Posted by vbneteng

Bandit,

No, I was not always of this viewpoint. It does not affect my daily decisions as I still do what I think is right. I am not saying I have it all figured out or anything like that, but because I dont, I still make the conscious decision towards what I think is right.

No real change in life, just trying to be contemplative and think about life, God, and how I fit. Then I would have an experience I would think, "man, I KNOW this!". I began to think about how, and over time, as more and more happened, I started to believe this.

I am a fairly stress free kinda guy. Things are going to happen, everyone knows this, why stress over life? It is life, not the end of it. Be happy and enjoy yourself.

If life is predetermined, then you can't do much to change your outcome. So, no control -> no worry, because no responsibility.

But if the results of your life depend mostly on your own actions, and you can change how things go by changing your actions, then now you have the stress of making choices that will affect your destiny. No excuses will make you feel better for bad results, because you know that you can still choose directions that will alter your life for the better.

Thinking over your initial post in this thread again, I'm reminded of the book/movie Dune and the character Paul Muadib.

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by valley

wow, beautifully said, dear lady!

Hey Valley...how are you. Read about your apple juice
What a sense of humor our creator has

[johnnyburst79]

I saw the movie, never read the book, but I should as I did enjoy the movie.

I am not saying I know/see the future, but as some, very few, events happen, I remember them from a dream.

You are right in the idea of "no control, no responsiblity", but I still put effort into myself. Gives the illusion there is some kind of free will, and I am kind of grateful for that. Maybe once I have mapped out my life, I will let you in on what will happen in the future, haha.

I still desire to live the best life I can and will enjoy every step, jump, pitfall, and tangent.

For example, I know I will never become muscular by sitting at home eating doritos with salsa con queso. For that, I must continue to go to the gym. I work to make my body better, but not just for myself, for the person who chooses to stand beside me. I, regardless of philosophy, will always strive to be my best simply because she, whoever she shall be, deserves my utmost.

[valley]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

Hey Valley...how are you. Read about your apple juice
What a sense of humor our creator has

Tell me about it! I only wish I had been complaining to Carl about needing a new car instead of worrying about being out of juice!

oh, and i'm fine, thanks.

[valley]

Originally Posted by vbneteng

For example, I know I will never become muscular by sitting at home eating doritos with salsa con queso. For that, I must continue to go to the gym. I work to make my body better, but not just for myself, for the person who chooses to stand beside me. I, regardless of philosophy, will always strive to be my best simply because she, whoever she shall be, deserves my utmost.

oooh...*thread hijack moment*...speaking of which, what was the name of that exercise thread? I looked for it the other day and couldnt find it. Just bought a new piece of workout equipment and wanted to see if anyone else has had any success with it.

/hijack moment

btw...a good attitude to have, vbneteng! I feel much the same way.

[Gabriel]

Yes...and I am getting ready to rev up my workout too. Soon as we get moved and settled in, I will have many questions
I'm entering the strengthening phase of working out...had the OK from my doctor. She said I can get very rigorous if I want to, but to start slow, and work toward it. My health is very good right now

[BanditFlyer]

Originally Posted by vbneteng

I saw the movie, never read the book, but I should as I did enjoy the movie.

I am not saying I know/see the future, but as some, very few, events happen, I remember them from a dream.

You are right in the idea of "no control, no responsiblity", but I still put effort into myself. Gives the illusion there is some kind of free will, and I am kind of grateful for that. Maybe once I have mapped out my life, I will let you in on what will happen in the future, haha.

I still desire to live the best life I can and will enjoy every step, jump, pitfall, and tangent.

For example, I know I will never become muscular by sitting at home eating doritos with salsa con queso. For that, I must continue to go to the gym. I work to make my body better, but not just for myself, for the person who chooses to stand beside me. I, regardless of philosophy, will always strive to be my best simply because she, whoever she shall be, deserves my utmost.

I have a problem with the whole "no free will" thing I guess partly because looking back at some of the decisions I made (largely due to some extreme persuasion by people who cared) I realize that if I would have made different choices(and I would definitely have made different choices had it not been for the influence of certain people) my life would be drastically different than it is today. Certain choices would have resulted in my life being much shorter than it has been so far.

Which reminds me, check out The Hurt Report. If you google for "Hurt Report motorcycle safety" it should be easy to find.

I guess being a motorcyclist probably leads one to think that they have control over their lives. You see lots of people making various choices and then reaping the results of those choices. Usually, those who make bad choices wind up getting injured. Usually, those who make informed choices wind up with much smaller losses. Usually.

Seems to make a fairly simple claim for choices leading to outcomes.

"The illusion of Free Will" - I'll be pondering that one for a while, along with Jeb's assertion that the person who you are is incapable of making choices other than those that you will make.

[BanditFlyer]

Originally Posted by valley

oooh...*thread hijack moment*...speaking of which, what was the name of that exercise thread? I looked for it the other day and couldnt find it. Just bought a new piece of workout equipment and wanted to see if anyone else has had any success with it.

/hijack moment

btw...a good attitude to have, vbneteng! I feel much the same way.

http://forums.techguy.org/random-dis...ise-group.html

[valley]

Originally Posted by Gabriel

Yes...and I am getting ready to rev up my workout too. Soon as we get moved and settled in, I will have many questions
I'm entering the strengthening phase of working out...had the OK from my doctor. She said I can get very rigorous if I want to, but to start slow, and work toward it. My health is very good right now

Good for you, Gabriel! I've started slowly, since I havent worked with machines in a few months. I quit the gym quite some time ago (too hard to get out with the baby and all)

heh, they say it takes a year for a woman's body to get back to normal after she's had a baby. Well, my year is up in less than 2 weeks....and this old body isnt anywhere near what it was before I got pregnant. Losing weight isnt enough...I need to do some toning and cardio, too.

Would be great to see you in the exercise thread and maybe get some training tips if you notice anything that works particularly well for you?

Bandit...what a prince! Thanks for the link.

and sorry for interrupting bandit/vbneteng...carry on!

[johnnyburst79]

Bandit,
Not everyone is destined to live a full life. Everything in life fits together and that is not randomness. And there is no way you can say your decisions completely your own with no outside influence or predetermined agenda. But that thought process opens up a whole new can of worms and I do not desire to turn this into more of a philosophical debate arguing God, the Fates, Allah, the Incarnations, etc.

[Gabriel]

Yeah...we would have to move it to CD if it got too heated

Rake my ideologies over the coals....not today

[johnnyburst79]

hahaha, would certainly not want to do that.

[Gabriel]

Originally Posted by vbneteng

hahaha, would certainly not want to do that.

Yeah...I need to let them gel a bit.....they got all turned upside down somehow in the past 10 or so years Arranging them has been horrendous and some are a little outdated to be honest. I'm trying to catch up though

[valis]

canNOT believe that nobody twigged me to this thread.....going to have to read to catch up....shame on all of you.....