Quote from: wickham_kendra on June 30, 2006, 06:18:37 PM
I am putting this in spirituality, even though I am not a religious sort of person, this is a view of an overall point of view of what should govern life and the world  we know.

Fundamental - Survive
I cant think of a more fundamental basic belief in life as the need, wish, desire, and urge to survive. It seems to dwell above social needs, relationship needs, even environmental needs.

Intention
My intention of such post is an alternative to a religious belief that god will make things alright and that through almighty powers good brings purpose and a reason to live to our lives, not to describe what all transsexuals (or any transgender for that fact) believe in. I presented a fundamental healthy rule one could find reason to live by. This wasnt a college assignment in logic, or playful game. Even just trying to survive should be a good enough reason to try. This is a reason for living, not a reason for not dying.

One could chose to live to avoid pain. Death is sort of an Ultimate Pain. Survival is sort of avoiding the Ultimate Pain, as long as you can. Or Death  can be seen as the ultimate non-pain to a suicidal. Life itself can be judged as the ultimate pain in suicidal persons. But I think in order to prevent suicide, one must find some reason for living. A suicidal person doesnt see or forgets a reason for living. A reason for living can transcend almost any pain. Some Reasons: Often religion is used. Children, friends, family for others. Joy of life and endless possibilities for some. Or like Jessica, in your case, Karma (also a Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, & Jainism belief). I think one could and should focus on surviving. Many different reasons for living.

Sometimes you have to go through more pain and fear to get to a better place
When your wife leaves you, lose a job, life is in danger, have great pain from disease or accidents, fear that your next move might be the wrong one, stress from work or life, sometimes going through more pain and fear leads to the more favorable outcome. And avoiding such steps could seriously hinder your future

ex. The pain of trying to find more work/or another career, another partner, going through treatment for a disease, transitioning if TS, continuing to find times to Xdress if CD, go through rehabilitation to overcome a severe wound or sickness, visiting your children after a divorce.

When you have lost everything, and you dont know where to look, I think you should start at your primary survival needs.

Physiological needs
The physiological needs of the organism, those enabling homeostasis, take first precedence. These consist mainly of:

the need to breathe
the need for water
the need to eat
the need to dispose of bodily wastes
the need for sleep
the need to regulate body temperature
Maslow also places sexual activity in this category, as well as bodily comfort, activity, exercise, et cetera.

then work up from basic to higher needs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs

This is a Non-Religious, positive reason for living that gives direction and meaning.


The simplest reason I gave to why, is that

Quote from: wickham_kendra on June 30, 2006, 06:18:37 PM
ReasonEven if one becomes near death injured, wrongly imprisoned, lost at sea, split to shreads from a nasty relationship break up, get fired or layed off from work, loose all belongings to natural disaster or theft, one should try all they could simply to do what they can to survive. No matter how bad things look, there is almost always a chance for a brighter future. And one should always keep fighting till death (not caused by self).

A chance at a brighter future.
Yes there are absolutely some rare, extreme cases where there is little chance of living or brighter future, but these are extremely rare. If however, there is nothing wrong with you physically (no extreme deadly disease). I believe no matter how hard it gets you can have a better future. Kate mentioned Hope. I think this is a little along that line of thinking, though there should be a little more Action then just Hope. Hope + Doing something about it.

If your not trying to have a better future your not using your resources, opportunities, knowledge, skills, talents, options, abilities to the best potential.

Fear, laziness, focus on complexities (not simplifying), forgetting who you are, wrong priorities, lack of knowledge, distractions (focus)(environmental, people, addictions), criminality, even creating imaginary blocks can impede anyones potentially better future.


Posted at: July 26, 2006, 09:22:12 PM

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All emotions= can give equal insight, meaning, and understanding (in addition to pains)
In addition, I think life is more than pain and pleasure. I think we experience a variety of emotions and senses. All of them are as important and meaningful as pain. I think our emotions define the current situations. I dont think its just 2 dimensions (pain/fear and pleasure/courage). I think the decisions are multi-dimension more like http://www.fractal.org/Bewustzijns-Besturings-Model/Nature-of-emotions.htm and http://www.sff.net/people/julia.west/CALLIHOO/dtbb/feelings.htm. Where there are varied degrees of intensity and kinds of feelings. Dealing with objects, qualities, and consequences. Decisions need to be made, things need to be judged based off of the entire spectrum, equally important, not just pain.

Emotions, to me, is helpful to decision making, if you explore what you are feeling, what degree, understand why you might feel that way, and allow you to feel that way (dont suppress it).


What is an Emotion?
According to Wikipedia (free online encyclopedia)  an emotion is the language of a person's internal state of being, normally based in or tied to their internal (physical) and external (social) sensory feeling. It is sometimes the opposite of reason.

How do I experience an emotion?
An emotion begins with a compared (to a background reference) perceived (real or not) significant (out of the ordinary, important to you) change (positive or negative)  in a situation that interacts with a belief (value, preference, expectation, opinion) which disrupts (interupts or improves) the flow of the situation and results in a emotion: varied intensity, duration, meaning, and response. They come in waves and can even lead to other emotions as other observations are made.

How can I amplify and uncover emotions?
We can and do experience emotions constantly, and continuously have opportunities to do so. One should try to amplify these emotions; not cover up, suppress, rationalize, discredit, alter, nor change how we feel immediately. Rather, we should allow ourselves to dwell with the feelings and thoughts for a brief period longer, in order to validate the existence, note the qualities, feel the effects, see the intensity, experience the physiological bodily responses, and link to possible causes of such emotion. We should also look at the personal beliefs that surround and have created this emotion.. Allow yourself even to feel the different waves and changes of emotions that can happen. Do they happen quick, briefly, slow, continue constantly?.

You can even seek out emotions from different activities like talking to others, interacting socially, doing art, writing, watching movies, reading books, making a diary, or playing games.

One thing I found the other day is a list of facial features that can actually invoke emotional feelings, just by holding that expression. I will at a later time list those features. You can bring some out just by remember times when you felt things, or when the situation arrises to explore it then.

What are the targets of emotions?
The main targets of emotions are actions of objects (agents)(ex. what people do)[approve or disapprove], consequence of events [pleased or displeased], and aspects (qualities) of objects (ex. characteristics of friends and enemies, girlfriend/boyfriend)[like or dislike].