How do you know when you're at the lowest point in your life?

[akaGQ 0]

How do we know. I mean noones gonna just say hey youre life sux just like everyone elses. You live the same days as everyone else. But as they say life is what you make of it. But how do we really know...Is it when your broke and jobless and find yourself stuck and dont know who to turn to or how to get there or is it when nothing ever seems to go your way and life seems to collapse and fall on top of you all at once from every direction. I ask myself more so than not how it is Ive managed to make it one day to the next. Life never seems to go the way I want it to. Ive turned to God and tried living my life for Him and yet there is still no happiness, seems we all have our problems yes, but why must we all play this constant game of am I gonna make it in life, am I gonna be successful or is my life just an example for the next guy in line not to follow. Growing up all I ever seemed to hear from other parents was dont hang around him he's a bad influence, he's leading his life in all the wrong directions and isnt going to succeed in life. I guess thats what we all want to do though is to be a success in our lives, of course everyone has there own definition for success. One may be looking to make a six figure income and live in a huge house driving a $100,000 BMW and yet at the same time another persons view of success would be to be living on a dropzone just to be around other people they have something in common with. I guess happiness would be my definition of success. But how do I get there? I have many people on one hand telling me Ill never amount to anything and on the other hand Ive got those that seem to actually give a rats ass and tel me my flaws and give me ideas on how to correct them. Life seems to play cruel jokes on us all I think. But I guess we are all stuck here and have to make the best of it all. Sorry to bore everyone with my thoughts.

- GQ

... it was the love of the air and sky and flying, the lure of adventure, the appreciation of beauty ...
-Charles Lindberg

[pds 0]

jezus h keerist on a tongue depressor, man!

the hardest thing to do is just relax, isn't it? it is going to take a few moments of mind quiet to see whatcha really want to do. i seem to have forgotten the directions and most of the time even i think i am full of shit but there are times when i feel neither high nor low but just right. slot perfect. relax, you have the rest of your life to figure it out.





p.s. what is the H in Jesus H Crist short for? Fuckin.

namaste, motherfucker.

[Gawain 0]

Rules for Being Human

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “works”.

4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. “There” is no better than “Here”. When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again, look better than “here”.

7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside you. The answers to life’s questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Arthur unknown

---

Now for my two cents (a bit more simple), I find that comparing my insides to other peoples outsides is not a winning proposition. Acceptance is the key for finding solutions to my perceived problems in life.

I do not consider my life anywhere near "perfect" or "normal". While I believe perfection is unattainable, and a don't know what "normal" is, I still seem to strive for those "things". I must remind myself that it is the journey that counts, not the destination.

This too, shall pass.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[DYEVOUT 0]

One is at the lowest point in one's life when one's dinner consists of stale bread crusts, dipped in the juice dripping from a taxidermist's dumpster in August.

Stale bread, gross.

----------------=8^)----------------------
"I think that was the wrong tennis court."

[RichM 0]

When you've hit rock bottom an feel it may be better to be dead, but at least it can't get any worse - and then it gets a shitload worse.

Rich M

[freebird 0]

One may be looking to make a six figure income and live in a huge house driving a $100,000 BMW and yet at the same time another persons view of success ***
Many people think that is the ultimate but it will not make one happy. You have to be happy with you.

My lowest point is when I had my little baby girl taken away from me because I do not macth up to what her grandparents thought was ok.


I was renting a room had to eat only peanut-butter sandwichs and milk. I remember my roommates had all of this yummy food and I wished I could afford that.

I spent all of my money on jumping ( student jumps at the time $$$$) I had none left over for material things and as I was at my lowest point I became happier then I have ever been because skydiving brought out the best in me.

Im lucky now I have a husband whom I hope will not leave me for someone that has money. Im still a student and he helps me with that for now. I know that the future ca never be a fixed plan. I do have something that makes me happy at least.
Of course when one has a child taken away I can not describe the pain and shame of that. I have to block it out or it would control my ever thought and I would not be able to function. I did have a job when they took her. I was a teacher for 4 years olds. Imagine that I can teach a room full of 4 years ( at a very nice school) but my parents thought that was not good enough for her. I think being with her mother is the best thing. I would have given up jumping for her but things did not work out like that for me. That is or was my rock bottom.

[wmw999 2,584]

I don't really think you can ever know what rock bottom really is, because it changes from person to person.

But one thing you can decide is what makes you happy. Not short-term right-now happy, but what gives you a satisfied feeling. Figuring it out takes awhile (I haven't figured it out yet, but I've figured out some things to try for, and that's a big step).

Then remember that just because someone else already has a house/car/whatever "at your age" is completely irrelevant. An artist can decide that art is more important than "respectable" work, and work at McDonald's to support well-respected art.

What you think is important is most important in your life. If it's not really important after all, you'll figure it out -- nothing has to be right now. What Sky said about finding the quiet place inside you is real, as is the part about not comparing your insides to someone else's outsides.

And never try to live up to your parents' expectations -- you need your own to live up to.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[PLFXpert 0]

First thing: Stop caring about what others think of you.

I admit once in a while, I get pissed b/c so and so assumed something, blah, blah, blah, but 90% of the time, I don't give a shit, and I find that makes me MUCH HAPPIER.

Second thing: You have enought to worry about in your own business. You don't have time to worry about anybody else's business. You'll drive yourself crazy if you keep comparing where you're at in your life to where everyone else is in theirs.

Third: The key to being happy is not whinning about all that's gone wrong, but figuring out what you want and doing whatever it takes to get it.

In life, you ALWAYS have options and choices. They might not always be the ones you want, but you have them. It's never "I had no choice" or "this was the only way" but rather "I picked that b/c it was the easiest." The easy road may not always be the best one. I'd climb a mountain ANYDAY if it meant when I'm done I'd have something I really want, rather than jump over a small hill and only have something that's OK.

Everybody gets to feeling low once a while, the difference b/w those who are successful and those who aren't, is the ones who pick themselves up, suck it up, and move on

Paint me in a corner, but my color comes back.

[freebird 0]

I do know that when one hits rock bottom it can be a chance to see yourself for who you are. "finding yourself"

[wingnut 0]

ya never know what he lowest point is untill your dead... it can always get worse...... but it can always get better........

______________________________________
"i have no reader's digest version"

[happythoughts 0]

You know you are at your lowest point when Jerry Springer calls you for a "family get-together" show.

[freebird 0]

LOL

[bwilling 0]

Quote

ya never know what he lowest point is untill your dead... it can always get worse...... but it can always get better........

Yeah, it can always get worse... or better... but remember, it's never quite as bad, or good, as it seems in the moment.

"Here is a test to find whether your mission
on earth is finished:

If you're alive, it isn't." - Bach, Illusions

"If all you ever do is all you ever did, then all you'll ever get is all you ever got."

[wmw999 2,584]

Quote

it's never quite as bad, or good, as it seems in the moment

I generally try to believe it's not as bad as it seems, but that life IS as good as it seems when it's good.

Really. It makes it easier to ignore the bad stuff that I can.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Deuce 1]

As soon as you realize it can't get worse, the universe changes in a way to allow it to get much worse just to keep you humble.

Even though you haven't experienced the worser way that things can get, they can. After enough experience with things getting worse when you were sure they couldn't, you begin to appreciate what you've got.

You are the driver in the vehicle of your life, sometimes you have to take detours, sometimes the scenery is abhorrent, but if you keep driving even when you are sure you can't go on, you will discover that you are tougher than you imagined. You may not arrive at your intended destination (Good God, I didn't) but you will eventually find yourself in a place that is pretty nice.

[wmw999 2,584]

One more thought.

The lowest point is when you're willing to pick up and move somewhere else to get out of the situation you're in, because washing dishes in a restaurant or mowing lawns or doing telemarketing is better.

It's when a clean bed in a shelter gives you enough time to think about where you are, and how to get started getting up again.

It's when quitting drinking or drugging, giving up your friends, and going to 2 meetings a day seems preferable to what you're doing.

It's when quitting your job, going to school, selling your car, and living like a student is better than where you are.

It's cutting off your family because you are better off without one.

It's when you decide it's bad enough. Some of these things aren't seen as that bad by some people, and they're awful to others.

Wendy W.
(edited to say that the job selections above aren't to say they're not honorable -- they're just not considered real desirable by most, and they have virtually no entry requirements)

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[freebird 0]

ya never know what he lowest point is untill your dead***
True

or until you are paralyzed or become sick with something awful.

[Deuce 1]

Wendy, if I read you right, you realize you're at your lowest when you pull yourself up from that place, and look back at it and I think I agree completely. (If I understand you right) I just think that the learning curve to pull yourself up and cutaway from bad behaviours, relationships, jobs, etc. is when you pass down through what was the worst, find out things can get even worse(er) and are motivated to change your course.

[wmw999 2,584]

I think so, JP. I'ts a little hard to know, because I've been pretty lucky. But since there really is always someone worse off, you just have to decide that it's the lowest you want to go.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Sebazz1 2]

It gets better. But you have to change your attitude. Appreciate the small things. Don't worry what others think you should and should not be.

One of the lowest point for me was when I could not make the first load of the day once because I was too hung over. That was a pretty low point.

[Mindcake 0]

Life is a journey not a destination, try not to think of things as high or low points in your life. Enjoy your time here regardless of what other people think and dont measure yourself by what other people have/dont have. Live your life your way, my friend (and fellow jumper) said it best:

Life is nothing more than dreaming outloud



Jim

Don´t belive the hype

[steve1 5]

AkaGQ,
Hang in there. It sounds like you're going through a really tough time. Have faith that things will get better and life has a way of working out for the best. What really helped me enjoy life more than anything, was my wife and kids. There's nothing else that means more to me or brings me more joy. Not even skydiving. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to find the right one to settle down with. Another thing that I've done recently (something I should have done a long time ago) is to cut away a toxic father and an evil step-mother. What a refreshing feeling. I almost don't know how to act now, without their constant guilt trips for not being good enough. I mean it feels great! Why didn't I do that 20 years ago? Steve1

[airann 1]

I will take a snap shot of my life at this very minute and you can see what it looks like.

The girl with the giant swollen red eyes, would be me.

Sometimes I dry up enough to post something. I think I am going to stop doing that. It makes me loze friends and that makes the sadness worse.

So far I have one left. So I guess its not so bad after all. The upside is she will know where I move. I can save postage on change of address cards.

~AirAnn~