You have exactly the life you want

[40oz]

http://www.akimbocomics.com/comic/2012-01-04-Eat_Shit_And_Die_202.jpg

[Remilia Scarlet]

Quite interesting, and quite true from my own experiences in life. It sort of reminds me of an article I read recently where a nurse listed the top five regrets she encountered in people on their deathbed. Numbers one and five especially seem to be to along the same lines as this comic.

[DoomUK]

Except most of us have to learn to be content, which isn't the same as an ideal state of bliss. Wanting things out of life and working towards them is only half the battle, sadly. Otherwise we'd all be billionaires without a care in the world.

[DuckReconMajor]

If you're looking at it through a 'free will' standpoint then yeah, this applies. Somewhat. Outside factors don't take away your choices, but they do change them.

[Creaphis]

Sure, there are a million ways to dampen the artist's message with "ifs" and "buts." It's still a good thing to consider, and it's accurate in an important way: people who assume that that they're in full control of their lives really are more likely to win life's battles. (The belief that events in your life are out of your control is linked to depression.)

[Coopersville]

Damn right. Gonna kill me a Bigfoot.

[DoomUK]

Creaphis said:

The belief that events in your life are out of your control is linked to depression.

Well. Some are.

...Okay I'll shut up now.

[Phobus]

This may well explain the crushing depression I've been feeling ever since moving to do my new, full time, relatively high-paying job then. There's the things I really want and then there's what I've pursued, which has taken me away from pretty much all of them (at least temporarily).

[Stygian]

Creaphis said:
The belief that events in your life are out of your control is linked to depression

Many of the reasons people propose for why they "can't" change their lives are irrational. There are all kinds of excuses one can make for why one isn't more like their ideal self. It would be more accurate for a person to say they are "unwilling" to change instead of "unable" in many cases. I tend to blame my reclusiveness on anxiety and social disability; this makes me feel out of control and, understandably, depressed. My problems are highly treatable, but I insist on treating them like handicaps.

Whether or not one attributes successes and failures to their own efforts or to their environment depends on the orientation of their locus of control. Highly successful people tend to have an internal locus, and believe that their status and wealth are totally the result of their own hard work; less successful people aren't trying hard in enough. Those who are poor tend to blame unfortunate circumstances and regard success as a matter of luck. However, many people have a self-serving locus and generally view successes as arising internally and mistakes as external.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Phobus said:

This may well explain the crushing depression I've been feeling ever since moving to do my new, full time, relatively high-paying job then. There's the things I really want and then there's what I've pursued, which has taken me away from pretty much all of them (at least temporarily).

This is the exact thing that happened to me with my job. I pursued things other than what I wanted because I didn't take enough time to really examine my dreams. Now I have a job that pays decent, but leaves me horribly depressed and anxious at the end of the day. It took friends away from me, and part of my health.

But rather than seeping in depression, I'm turning things around to work on my real dreams. Most of the time I find that the work I put into that doesn't feel like work, either.

[Justince]

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Edited July 28, 2017 by Justince

[Snakes]

That had all of the depth of a profound fortune cookie.

[Maes]

Here are some more wisdom gems:

"When standing, you can see farther"

"It's better to be young, rich, handsome and healthy than being old, poor, ugly and sick"

"A man that is not clean, has fleas. A man who has fleas, sleeps badly. And a man that sleeps badly, works badly"

(wisdom gems blatantly stolen from Mao's Little Red Book)

[DoomUK]

Maes said:

Here are some more wisdom gems:

"When standing, you can see farther"

"It's better to be young, rich, handsome and healthy than being old, poor, ugly and sick"

"A man that is not clean, has fleas. A man who has fleas, sleeps badly. And a man that sleeps badly, works badly"

(wisdom gems blatantly stolen from Mao's Little Red Book)

If Chinese philosophy is anything like Japanese, then these seemingly childish aphorisms could be deceptively deeper than the reader can give them credit for. But I haven't read this book so I have no idea what context they were said in. Maybe he was just talking out of his ass, I couldn't say.

[Koko Ricky]

I liked the comic, personally. The philosophy contained within is fairly obvious but nicely worded. Although, adhering to its advice, it's clear what I want out of life: To remain developmentally stunted by living at home unemployed because of a crippling fear of the real world, and to continue to spiral downward mentally because I've intentionally de-medicated myself and stopped going to therapy, out of the naive belief that I can solve my complicated issues without outside help.

[Sharessa]

Eh, I guess it's true. I'd like to have money, but I'd rather just be happy. I've found that whenever I start actually making money, I start becoming unpleasant. Maybe that's why I've become unemployed. Anyway, my unemployment is giving me plenty of time to scheme on trying to make money off of having fun. Hopefully I can figure something out before I run out of money and starve to death.

[Creaphis]

Danarchy said:

I've found that whenever I start actually making money, I start becoming unpleasant.

Interesting. I think that the same is true for me too, except that in my case, I'm naturally unpleasant, and when I'm not working, I become depressed, and when I'm depressed, I try to act pleasant so that people think that I'm happy. Steady employment makes me feel proud of myself and when I'm happy my unpleasantness can shine through.

[Technician]

GoatLord said:

I liked the comic, personally. The philosophy contained within is fairly obvious but nicely worded. Although, adhering to its advice, it's clear what I want out of life: To remain developmentally stunted by living at home unemployed because of a crippling fear of the real world, and to continue to spiral downward mentally because I've intentionally de-medicated myself and stopped going to therapy, out of the naive belief that I can solve my complicated issues without outside help.

Yeah, sounds about right.

[TwinBeast]

No, I don't have the life I want. I had it, but now that life is gone.

I was living alone, things were sort of ok, though I wasn't exactly happy, but at least I was alone in my solitude. Then my brother comes here with his cat. Month later his girlfriend comes here with another cat.

Any progress I had made on correcting my sleep rhythm was gone, it had gone worse than it had ever been. They talk constantly, they don't really care if I'm sleeping. My brother's cat is relatively harmless, though he spreads his hairs everywhere. His girlfriend's cat I want to smash into small piles of putrid debris. This little cunt meows every few hours.. sometimes it can meow for an hour nonstop unless someone interferes. It also pees into beds and other stuff, most recently it peed on my room's door.

I really hate them. I want a disintegrator weapon or an abyss where I could throw them, so that it would be as if they had never existed, so that none would even remember them.

But it seems these people and their cats aren't going anywhere, since it's free for me and them to live here, so why would they, even if it would be much easier and logical for them to live in a rented house. I guess I have to move.

[printz]

Meh, I don't agree with the statement. For me life is like a competition, if I snooze I lose. I don't have what I want, I need to earn it. If there's one thing I need to fix right now to feel happier, is social life. Good thing that the solution is obvious, use a phone or something.

Finally, weren't comics supposed to be funny? To me, "comic" means "funny".

[DuckReconMajor]

Justince said:

Join us next week for water is wet.

Water is wet? Does that mean iron is ironic?

[printz]

Maes said:

Here are some more wisdom gems:

"When standing, you can see farther"

"It's better to be young, rich, handsome and healthy than being old, poor, ugly and sick"

"A man that is not clean, has fleas. A man who has fleas, sleeps badly. And a man that sleeps badly, works badly"

(wisdom gems blatantly stolen from Mao's Little Red Book)

They may sound obvious, especially when said by a dictator, but they're always good as reminders. The young/rich/handsome saying has become pretty common too, and it's a motivator to keep doing what you're doing while young.

GoatLord said:

because I've intentionally de-medicated myself and stopped going to therapy, out of the naive belief that I can solve my complicated issues without outside help.

That's a wrong thing you're doing. Medicines exist for a reason, they aren't optional, people can get sick and that's when they're supposed to immediately take medications. It's possible we've been adapting to depend on medications if we need to cure something, otherwise it won't go away (or it will go, after 10 times long). They're not there for vanity's sake. So swallow your irrational pride as well as those pills.

[hex11]

Many of these drugs have very nasty side-effects, so it might be worth trying some lifestyle changes and see if that helps. I mean, instead of just quitting the drugs and doing nothing else to address the problem.

[darkreaver]

Interesting read, but pure bullshit.

[Koko Ricky]

printz, my reason for not taking pills is simple. I simply refuse to believe that we know enough about the human condition to survey someone for 10 minutes, decide they have X disorder, then prescribe a medicine to them that's only been on the market for a few years. Psychiatry may not exactly be new, but it has still has much maturing to do before we can throw pills at people the way we do. I understand that my refusal to take my medication may eventually backfire and cause some sort of breakdown, but I've personally experienced enough "falling into the abyss" moments that I think I can handle whatever my brain throws at me.

[geekmarine]

I could take the comic at face value, but to me it sounds like someone trying to rationalize the shitty hand they were dealt in life (or rationalize the shitty hands dealt to others). Everything is a combination of effort and circumstances. Most people can't come to grips with that. Psychologically, we're inclined to take credit for our successes and attribute blame for our failures. Thus, someone who has experienced failure would not want to admit that lack of effort was a part of that failure. Likewise, a successful person would not wish to admit that random circumstances contributed to his success. However, in both cases, both effort and circumstances played a role.

Point is, ultimately, the author tries to paint this "master of our own destiny," bullshit that I don't fully buy in to. In some respects, yeah, there is some truth to it, but ultimately, it just sounds like one reassuring oneself over the things one can't control by convincing oneself that there is nothing over which one has no control.

[Koko Ricky]

But doesn't the comic point out the positive results of forcing yourself to make the necessary efforts to achieve success?

[Csonicgo]

When massive amounts of stimulants can calm a patient, rather than agitate him ( as it would do to a normal human being) we can probably conclude that he has a disorder somewhere in his noggin. I should know.

I physically cannot control my anxiety disorders, as I have some of the worst effects (massive clawing of skin in sleep, etc) so those things are like heaven in a bottle to me.

But I don't like the idea of experimental drugs on patients, as I have been in many ADHD/depression medical trials (because methylphenedate didn't do a damned thing). It's hell.

[Koko Ricky]

I was on medication for about 13 years or so, and was depressed the entire time. That's why I stopped. It's like, why take them if I was still experiencing the same symptoms? I prefer having wild, uncontrollable fluctuations in mood to being sort of robotic and just mildly depressed, because at least now I feel human. Since it's all mental and not physical, I don't really mind it too much. But I also romanticize mental illness.

[hex11]

It sounds more to me like a way to protect one's ego rather than some kind of rationalization to satisfy an inquiring mind. The ego may well be humanity's greatest flaw. Without it, we probably would be living in a utopia instead of these dark ages.