Thinking/Tonnage/Apology

[ceeboo]

Thinking: I have been doing quite a bit of thinking lately. Some of this thinking is related to this message board and my participation on it. I have been thinking of many things - cancer - children playing - human suffering - death of a loved one - successes in life - failures in life - job promotions - losing a job - people that are sad - people that are scared - people that happy - engaged couples - couples going through a divorce - excellent food - awful food - being an American citizen - imagining being a Ukrainian/Russian/Israeli/Palestinian/Iranian citizen - elderly people - young people - drug overdoses - family tragedies - family celebrations - stresses rooted in many things - joy - turmoil - communication - division - unity - grace - compassion - empathy - expressing love - expressing dislike - friends - enemies - doubts - struggles - smooth seasons - rocky patches - etc. (Yeah, I have been doing a lot of thinking.)

Tonnage: Weights/scales/measurements - How do I weigh the importance between (for example) cancer of a child against good food? Is it rational to weigh going through a divorce and excellent food on the same scale? can a family tragedy (say a drug overdose resulting in the death of a loved one) be measured on the same measuring stick as the loss of a job? How do I prioritize such complex and deeply personal things? We all have a limited amount of time, so what/who do I decide to spend my time on? Does it even matter? Does it do any good? Does it create more damage/turmoil? Does it benefit anyone? Is it really just meaningless passing of time?

Apology As it relates to this board and my participation on it, I think I have failed in many ways. I have lashed out at people. I have been ungracious. I have not given the benefit of the doubt to some. I have lacked empathy/compassion/tolerance. Given that I profess to be a follower of Christ, I am supposed to be a light to the world - I am supposed to be kind - I am supposed to be slow to anger, resist responding to personal attacks. I am supposed to express love to all people at all times. I am sorry. As it relates to political threads specifically, I want to apologize to the many people that I have failed to express love to. I am sorry. While I don't like naming names (I know I will forget a few) - Dwight, Marcus, Cam, Honor, Screech, Schmo, Gunnar, Moksha, Canpakes ,Kish, Res, Gad, Manetho, IHAQ, and Veritas, I offer an apology to all of you. I am sorry.
If you made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read.

Back to thinking..............

[honorentheos]

Ceebs,

We have our differences in perspectives and we have certainly had our unfortunate moments recently. But in this we are one. Whatever is feeding your thinking I hope only for the best for you and those who may have inspired these thoughts. If an apology is needed, I extend one as well as accept what you felt was necessary to offer. I do hope whatever the future holds for us all, we can meet it with better dialog and sincere respect for our shared humanity.

[canpakes]

I want to apologize to the many people that I have failed to express love to. I am sorry. While I don't like naming names (I know I will forget a few) - Dwight, Marcus, Cam, Honor, Screech, Schmo, Gunnar, Moksha, Canpakes ,Kish, Res, Gad, Manetho, IHAQ, and Veritas, I offer an apology to all of you. I am sorry.

Ceebs, if anything, I need to remember that most people have never witnessed how an Italian family ‘discusses’ things. You sure don’t owe me anything.
: D

And I’d still be happy to build a Thanksgiving roll tower with you any day.

[drumdude]

I think you stand out massively amongst the conservative posters here as a very compassionate and introspective person. I always enjoy reading your perspective.

[Kishkumen]

No worries, ceebs! I always want to see you here doing your thing. You are one of my favorite people. I am sorry when I get unpleasant and unkind. I have not been my best me lately, to be sure.

[dantana]

That was a nice thing of you to do CB. Good for you. I've had you down as one of the good guys for a long time now. Maybe as early as '08, on the MAD board.

You do take some hits on here fer sure. Just a quick thought on the topic of bullying then. When I think of bullying I have in mind the person who picks on soft targets to garner yuk yuks from his pals in the locker room. Insecure, chicken-ship behavior, in my opinion. So, when I see you take hits, most of the time I don't think it's people going for yuk yuks from the gallery, but more just strong-arming. I think there's a difference, but I don't think Roget does.

Does it help knowing that it's just gamesmanship over assholery? Maybe, maybe not. Your call.

Now I'm going to go crack a Coors original and see if the Ducks can bully their way back into this game. Cheers.

[Moksha]

Best wishes to you, Ceeboo.

Dantana, the Ducks did it!

[IWMP]

It sounds like you've been worrying too much. I hope you are ok. I've obviously missed the cause of this post but you don't strike me as someone who is inconsiderate and I don't think we need to weigh up the value of compassion we are supposed to give topics. I see it as you give the amount of compassion your soul feels compassion for. And I think that is relative to our own understanding and perspectives. I think it's ok to feel more for things that someone else may feel less for because that is just who we are and how we feel. If we analyse every thought and feeling we have we could alter how we genuinely feel and start doubting ourselves. I think we tend to feel more compassion and empathy for things that we are able to visualise and comprehend. I could feel sadness for loss more because I have experienced loss than if I hadn't because I would be reminded of how it made me feel and I could relate that to the person currently experiencing it and could then show genuine compassion because I would be feeling what they are feeling but if it was something I had never experienced and had no understanding of them I may still feel compassion as I try to empathise but the level would be limited. So I don't think you need to be worrying about whether you should be paying more attention to certain topics just go by what your being feels. I get the vibe that you are a good person.

[Dwight]

Sorry for the very late reply and bumping this. Tensions were high for a lot of people on different sides of issues. I was never really offended by you calling me a moron, and I hope you know I would happily share a meal or get a drink together. Message boards though sometimes the devil's advocate, hiding behind the keyboard, etc. we can be more biting in our words. I just take it as par for the course.

I'm actually glad those messages of you calling me a moron are there. Frankly I saw it as you conceding the argument, you couldn't address what I was raising and instead called me a moron. I do think you are a genuine person who isn't evil. I disagree with the Tea Party, Freedom Caucus, and Trump politically, but also tonally. I want to see them lose decisively not just to stop their politics, but because I think they have ramped up the incivility in politics, and that they win is just a reward and sign that Americans not only will accept it, but embrace it. I wish politics was boring again.