Accept, my ass. I'm sorry, but I think that's awful advice. Personally, I would blame a major part of the problems that plague the human race and/or our individual lives exactly on that -- acceptance; the amazing ability to swallow any shit that's thrown at us. That friend over there is acting like an obnoxious jackass and posting obnoxious comments on your weblog again? The guy at work is telling jokes that betray his racist leanings but no one wants to call him on it because it'd be awkward? The management is out to fuck the employees? The president is lying to us and murdering people in a foreign country? They're rounding up the Jews again? Well, them's the breaks!

No. No.

I don't think we should accept bad things. I think we should object to them in the loudest possible terms. Every piece of ourselves we silently give up now goes away easy and only comes back after a tremendous effort -- if at all.

This way, you can lead a happy and fulfilling life and find peace and beauty in the world every day, just like I do!

Ah yes, I see the error of my ways... I should have gone down to their offices and shoot the motherfuckers for not offering me that job ;)

I'm just so Zen I wasn't specific enough. I'm talking about things we can't do anything about, like that forementioned job. On the other hand if I had felt like they didn't offer me the job because of my sex, or skin colour, or religion, or lack of it, damn sure I would have acted. Shrug and move on, nothing can be done about that.

But that obnoxious jackass that's posting obnoxious comments on my blog again - I'll kickban his ass faster than you can spell obnoxious ;)

My problem is - ok, one of them - is that I worry about things I can't do anything about. Like what time I should leave for the airport when I'm going on holiday in two weeks time, and what if it's gonna be heavy traffic or what if it's gonna rain on the weekend.

But you know what I meant, you silly sod.

too true.

Pfah. That's no goddamn reason to not get angry.

"I want you to get mad. I don't want you to protest, I don't want you to riot, I don't want you to write to your congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression, the inflation, the Russians, or the crime in the streets. All I know is that first -- you've got to get mad. I want you to go to the window, open it, stick your head out and yell: 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!'"

Of course, at the end of the movie, they had him killed. I can hardly wait, that'll be the best part!

Thanks. I'll do my best and try, again. I tell this myself to everybody else, but right now I needed to hear it from outside.

There's a difference between letting go of things you cannot change and resigning to things you should try to change.

The difficult part is determining which one you are dealing with at any given moment.

Adaptivity.

Thank you Janne, that's what I was trying to say.

I knew there was a reason to write a blog - I'm obviously not as good expressing my thoughts as I thought I was... I've got them in my head very clearly, but what comes out is just a tiny fragment that just doesn't convey the idea sufficently. Luckily enough I've got Mikki to point out the holes ;)

Well, yeah, but it's not as if I didn't understand what you were going for in the first place.

Yeah, I know. I just mean that you remind me of other point of views that I might not associate with a given subject. Like this one - I know I'm right, subjectively anyway (meaning my advice is right for me)... but you're right too and your point of view is just as valid - for you anyway. I couldn't live like that.

You've been always fighting the giants - whether real or just windmills. That's your strenght. (Me - I don't get angry, I get sad. But there's strenght in that emotion too.)

I don't really think of it in terms of strength and weakness.

To sum it up with an old and widely spread adage: "God give courage to change the things I can, serenity to accept the thing I can not change, and wisdom to always tell the difference."

Yes ladies and gentlemen, it's true.

Jesus reads my blog.

Oh, Jesus? While you're at it, howzabout you maybe do something about, oh, starving HIV-infected children or something instead of talking about your daddy giving people courage if he happens to feel like it? And when you're done with that, you just give me a little shout, 'cause I could probably come up with a couple of other tiny little things you could take a look at. Wouldn't even be hard. I'm inventive like that.

Mysterious ways -- pfah. Ain't nothing mysterious about being a dickhead.