The Hope Thread

[UserClone]

Hiya, fellow playgrounders!
This is my first attempt at a thread of my own in FB, so bear with me.
Here is the place to make a "deposit", a message of hope that can touch someone out there in the playground we call Earth. Whether a personal anecdote, a hopeful story you heard about secondhand, a favorite quote, or even just a well-wishing message or a thank you to the playground, bring it on over to the Hope Thread! Or, you can just make a "withdrawal" by just reading and knowing people care.

For my first post, I'd like to submit the quote in my sig, which I believe with all my heart (and you guys help prove me right all the time!):
"Strangers are merely family whom you have yet to come to know."
Thanks for reading, friends (and family!:smallwink:),
+Flutters-With-Pigeons

[Trog]

*Trog enters carrying a large bag for a deposit*

You, yes you reading this:

You're good enough. You're smart enough. And... dog-gone-it, people LIKE you. :smallsmile:

...

*turns to teller* So.. um... what's the interest rate on these sorts of things? Trog's saving up for one of those... you know... chests. *puffs Coffin Nail*

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

I passed on a bit of hope to a woman yesterday, who told me of the loss of her brother recently. I was contemplating the waste of a few dollars to see a movie, and she and I started chatting. I asked her, "Would your brother want you to mourn his passing, or raise a glass of wine in his honor and celebrate his life?" I told her what was obvious to me, but wasn't to her, despite the fact that she was taking action at that very moment. "Despite your claim of ongoing grief, you are treating yourself to a movie, and that can't be a bad thing."

I was a good boy. :smallsmile:

[Gem Flower]

I have found friends here.:smallbiggrin: Everyone I have met has been kind, funny, and interesting. Anyone who reads this should know that they fall into at least one of aforementioned categories. (Some people are too cynical to be kind.:smallwink: Just kidding, everyone in the Playground is great.) The Playground is my giant, well-populated, international second home.

[Mordokai]

You people have kept me sane and at the same time been making me more insane all the time, ever since I joined, and that is a good, no, great thing. This is my second home, my window to the world of smart and interesting and kind people. For that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[Moff Chumley]

(Dammit, he completely stole what I was going to say.)

No matter what happens ever anywhere at any point, from a relative point of view, it can't do anything really 'bad'. So, if the earth blows up spontaneously, be happy! You might just get to see the universe by having your atoms scattered throughout it!

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

You know, aside from my experience yesterday, where I brought a smile to the face of a stranger, you folks ARE my miracle.

It's beyond mere words to convey what GitP did for me at the start of May. As a kind of confirmation, my brother went to the emergency room again a few days ago due to a mystery pain, and discovered he only had an infection, thank goodness. But as the doctor came in carrying my brother's medical file, his eyes grew wider and wider. The doc then asked in utter disbelief, "How are you still alive?" The only time the doc had ever heard of someone surviving a dissected aorta was when it split during surgery, when the patient's chest was already cracked open.

Be it magic or miracle, the Playground gave me my brother when he should have literally died. That's something I will never forget. :smallsmile:

[UserClone]

Hey guys, thanks for all of your wonderful posts!

I'd like to share a privately spiritual and uplifting experience I had recently. Many people are ware of my relationship situation, about which I like to joke I "blogged" in the RWA thread. Well, last week, I was at work and I looked out the window at the roof of the building across the street. I saw a couple of pigeons (Ironically enough; points to avatar/username) on the roof. One of them hopped over closer to the other, and she hopped away. He hopped closer, and she hopped away again. After the third of these exchanges, she got fed up and just flew to the next building over. He looked at her for a long moment. It looked from my vantage point as though he were going to fly over to be with her again, but to my surprise, he flew right on past her new building and off out of my view.

I couldn't believe what I had witnessed. It was as if the scenario was played out just for me. It was a very humbling experience to have learned what I had to do from a pigeon. Apparently, the username had picked me, after all.:smallsmile:

I guess the point of this story is that you can learn from anyone or anything, if you look at them/it with humble eyes. Thanks for reading, Playground!
Your friend and brother,
Flutters-With-Pigeons

[Victor Thorian]

I fell in love today.

[Pocketa]

I'm hoping for Ink, there's a thread about that, but I thought I'd reiterate that here.

[Thanatos 51-50]

*breaks into the bank in the middle of the night, and is consquely disappointed*
Well... may as well deposit, this stuff is impossible to steal! (of course, all my unfavourable multi-classing makes me a worse Rogue than Da Rogue...)
Anyway:
Go on, get out there! Make a fool out of yourself doing something you know nothing about! Be it dancing at the bar before you're running on Irish Courage, or banging on an oversized drum in front of a festival crowd.
I can garuntee you'll have fun, and it will open doors.
Life is short, and filled with long, agonising streaches of boredom, only you can force bits of happy in there.
And you're probably better than you think!

[UserClone]

I was thinking today about something a choir teacher instilled in me that's stuck with me, because it's not applicable only to singing. When we would sightread a new piece for the first time, inevitably the first run would sound timid and quiet. "Nuh-uh!" he would exclaim. "Make LOUD MISTAKES! I don't care if every note is wrong, I want to know that you're SINGING!"
So true, isn't it? If we don't put ourselves out there on the line, we'll never be able to be heard, or to then learn and improve. So get out there, playground, and start making LOUD mistakes! You'll never understand the value of them until you do!

Yours,
+Flutters-With-Pigeons
(Edit: Yeah, so basically, what he ^ said. :smallwink:)

[Player_Zero]

I fell in love today.

D'awwwwwww. :smalltongue:

...Hmmm...

There is always someone worse off than you.
There is always something you can do to make your life better.
Foolish dreams are always worth chasing!
The is no dream which cannot be fulfilled!
The is no disease which is incurable! HEALING TOUCH!

[Pocketa]

@ natos: I do taiko!

@Pig: that's a really neat quote, mind if I use it sometime? :smalltongue:

[UserClone]

Absolutely! Heck, add it to your sig if you like! (please credit the originator - or did you mean the one about making loud mistakes?)

*makes happy happy withdrawals*

Love & Hugs!

+FlWiPig

[Headless_Ninja]

Hey. I'm more of a lurker than a poster, but when I've posted about relationship troubles, depression, etc, you guys have given me more hope than I'd thought possible. When I was on an acting course, the 'group leader' told us that there were two ways to do anything in life, be it making friends, learning a new skill, whatever, and he likened these ways to a a swimmer preparing to dive into a swimming pool. He could eiuther timidly step forwards, make sure that the pool was filled with water, then dive, or just take a deep breath, run up and jump blind, trusting that there would be water to hold him up. The second way is more fun and a better way to live life, and so it's what I tried to do here, and I don't regret it. You guys have held me up through so much, and held up other people through problems a million times worse than my most imaginative nightmares. I thank you, truly, deeply, for the hope I've got from this community, and I honestly love you all.

[Thanatos 51-50]

@ natos: I do taiko!

Taiko is awesome!

I use it as an example, because I met current significant other when she was plucked out of the crowd to do taiko at the Black Ship Festival.
Good times had by all.
*makes "withdrawals"*

[Purple Cloak]

Well I guess all i have to say it that the people in the playground make me feel like i'm not alone, that their are people like me out their. And for that sence of belonging, thats what I am most grateful for.

Edit: By the way Player zero, would it be consedered ironic or apropreate that i was listening to "The Touch" by Stan Bush when I read your post?

[Player_Zero]

That depends. Were you thinking of Transformers: The Movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkYuK3AKrxc) at the time?

Also, just remember this to lighten your darkest hour: Megatron must be stopped. No matter the cost.

[UserClone]

Ok, I was grinning when I called Bor today with my good news (and he is getting better, apparently, by the way). I asked a girl out! I was so pleased! Granted, she declined, but WHATEVER! I could give a flip about the result! I asked her in the first place!

So, basically, a friend of mine who is new to the area, along with myself, went to my favorite wine shop today, to which he'd never gone. So I thought I'd ask her along while I waited for him to go home and take a shower. She said she'd had a yoga lesson to take an hour from then, so she couldn't make it. I said maybe we could hang out some other time, and she thanked me for asking her. It was AWESOME! I love how enthused it makes me to know that I asked a girl out, even if it was a "group thing." And you know what? Turns out she likes that exact same wine shop!

Thanks for tuning in, hopeful playgrounders!

[Pinnacle]

Darkness can not drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hatred can not drive out hatred, only love can do that.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

Or my version of the same theme:
If you fight fire with fire, everybody gets burned; fight fire with water.


Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
-Margaret Mead

[UserClone]

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
-Margaret MeadThe whole point of this thread. Succinctly put!

[NinjaHippy]

Right when I'm getting depressed about the state of the world, I found this thread. And then I was cheered up to remember that there are still people who try to make life better.

Cheers.

[Thufir]

"Make LOUD MISTAKES! I don't care if every note is wrong, I want to know that you're SINGING!"

Y'know, I've had that (Or words to that effect) said to me so many times, and I never thought of applying it outside my singing. Thank you.

[SquirrelKing]

It's much like the old saying, "Dance like no one is watching." And just as applicable. :smallsmile:

[Pocketa]

---V.2. edit.---

Well, I'm finally okay with what happened now, but in May, I got kicked out of my house because my best friend (a guy) walked me home. I was out for a week, stayed with my boyfriend, who people had warned me about (that he's irresponsible, weird, etc.), and that was fine, but he and his friends thought it would be funny to get me high, and I ended up getting raped by one of my boyfriend's best friends. The police couldn't do anything, and my boyfriend and his friends kept on hanging out with the perp, for the weed and because he has a car, so I broke up with the whole group. I was tired of having blunts put out on my wrist as a joke and having my hair set on fire by my boyfriend, so now he's an ex.

I didn't hang out with my 'extended family', my group of super-close friends, and didn't even talk to them much until today, when I talked to one of the bros I'm closest to, and he's upset, and he wished that I'd told them sooner, especially about me getting kicked out, so that they could have helped me. I think I felt like I was damaged goods, or it would be awkward, or something. Also, I hadn't hung out with them for 2 months and I'd missed a lot of stuff that had happened, but it's all fine now, and turned out it always was.

I haven't cried yet, because I experienced a lot of child abuse from the time I was in kindergarten until 6th grade, when my father finally left for good, and I have PTSD and I'm medically depressed (but I'm almost 'cured', I've been very happy this past year except for this incident and a few minor others) so this didn't do wonders for me, but I didn't go suicidal again.

So yeah, stuff happens. But I move on, and I have people, and I'm so happy that I do. I just hope that everyone else has support systems too.

[Thanatos 51-50]

So yeah, stuff happens. But I move on, and I have people, and I'm so happy that I do. I just hope that everyone else has support systems too.

My support system deploys on big, steel ships for months at a time on as little as a day's notice.
Alternitivly, I deploy on big, steel ships for months at a time on as little as a day's notive.

Thank <Insert Diety of Choice here> for the Playground!

[Pocketa]

My support system comes in the form of young gentlemen between the ages of 15 and 21, that are available at the click of a mouse, push of a button, or nudge of the shoulder. They're football players, wrestlers, working teens that have lives that are harsh, but never complain about it, that take care of their families, their siblings when their parents are working at night, and study hard to make the grades, do the extra credit, and defy stereotypes. It's mostly a core group of seniors, that introduces 1 new member into the group from freshman year each year, and last year they picked me

(they take 3 months to pick a person, but I was chillackzing with them way before)

and the person before me quit

(too much drama time that was on wasted things or stuff she started, i.e. she left her phone at a restaurant off campus after people reminded her to take care of it and she expected us to go and find it instead of go to the assembly we'd busted our muscles to earn)

We are the School for Social Justice and Ecology.

And we are bros.

But I wish I'd told them sooner, and I hope that somebody who reads this is inspired to let the people they love and the people that love them know about whatever problem, however major or minor, is going on in their lives.

[Bronathair]

It could be worse... you could live in Kenya...

[Pocketa]

I never said mine was worse, and it really isn't for you to judge, but this is the Hope Thread, and I'm hoping that survivors will come out and tell people close to him about what happened to them, and that hopefully, they have a support system.

[UserClone]

"Make LOUD MISTAKES! I don't care if every note is wrong, I want to know that you're SINGING!"

Y'know, I've had that (Or words to that effect) said to me so many times, and I never thought of applying it outside my singing. Thank you.

You are so welcome!

So, I. Feel. Good.
I have been planning a trip to Greece next year, and so I went into the bookstore to get Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, as I am quite familiar with both stories, but never went and actually read the epics themselves. And on my way out, in the super-duper bargain bin, I come across a little 138-page book called The Four Agreements. I was amazed at how much of this stuff I already knew, but didn't have the words to express. It's about four, simple, straightforward agreements that, if you actually hold yourself to them, will make you a happier person.

Be impeccable with your word.
Don't take anything personally.
Never make assumptions.
Always do your best.

If anyone would like elaboration, my PM box is open, but, trust me, it's a great book. Cheers, all!
Love,
Joe

[Lupy]

"I can't carry it for you Mr. Frodo. But I can carry you!"

In all the literature I have ever read, this one struck me the deepest.

And this playground has been there for me when I needed it, this whole place is my hope.

[eggy_goodness]

For some reason, the song Jukebox Hero by Foreigner is like hope in sonic form (to me at least). It's the definition of cheesy, and yet I listen to it every time I need a boost.

[Lex-Kat]

Pocketa, I'm happy to hear that you were smart, and got yourself away from your ex. Many people stay in those situations, trying to fix what cannot be fixed.

Thank you for sharing. It must have been hard to do.

[Hoggy]

Forumz need moar hope, and I actually have had something positive happen to me (like very positive and I've managed to genuinely impress/surprise myself) so here goes!

So, on the weekend, I found out that one of my closest rave-going friends is gay. And I did not care. In the slightest.

For someone who considers himself moderately/highly homophobic, I have impressed myself and shown that perhaps I am not as much of an ******* as I have led myself to believe.

It is one step, but one step is a start.

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Let there be awesome news!

Remember my brother? The one that was supposed to do all of that dying at the end of April/start of May? Well he's supposed to swing by today and we're suppose to go for lunch/dinner/something! :smallsmile:

Prior to my brother's playing Poker with Death, he and the wife were planning a trip to Las Vegas. As I understand it, there were two reasons for it, as far as I know; one spoken and one unspoken. The first was to visit some of her family that's still living out there. The unspoken reason was to take a peek at the housing markets. Just peek, mind you. They have a few years to go before they can sell their house in TN. And that whole concept is purely hypothetical, because there's more in TN to keep my brother there than any reason to go to NV. At least, that's my point of view.

Anyway, the big news is that I'll be seeing my brother, and that makes me happy! "The Miracle Man Cometh!" :smallbiggrin:

I think I'll spoiler the rest.

The Miracle Man

It doesn't seem to register with many people, including my brother, how close to death he really was. A dissected aorta is usually in great danger of rupturing. When that happened, the victim usually bleeds to death internally in less than five minutes. His uncontrolled blood pressure for that first week in the hospital basically kept my brother at perpetual risk of dying before they could rush him to an operating room. And during those days while the Playground was coming together to get me to his side, I was always wondering whether or not he'd live long enough to see my face.

With his status able to take a turn for the worst at any given moment, YOU people worked another miracle in a very short time. Enough money to fly to TN and stay in a motel that was right next to the hospital. I was so stunned by the actions of the Playground that I told anyone with ears all the way to TN.

The next miracle was to see my brother heal on a daily basis. Downgraded from the critical care unit to a regular room on the first full day I was there, each day saw my brother improving. Improving, mind you, than any of the medical professionals could have predicted. Heck, if you went with the statistics and the doctors' predictions, my brother should have died. Period.

And so it was that with a much lighter heart, I left TN, leaving a trail of larger smiles as I spoke of the miracle of the Playground AND my brother's astonishing recovery.

I know I've said most of this before. Here, on my blog, and to numerous people offline. But this story reminds me, as well as others, that not all of humanity is self-centered, as well as the fact that miracles still happen.

Thank you ALL for not only helping me see my brother, but bringing he and I closer. :smallsmile:

[Rollin]

To make up for my withdrawals from this thread, I'd like to deposit the thought that everyone is innocent of something. Even if it's simply never occurred to them to go wrong in that particular way, that still counts.

[UserClone]

Very true, Rollin!
Congratulations to Bor, and especially to Hoggy!!
It's great to discover that you are better than you thought you were! *hugs, musses hair*
Great to see you're all keeping Hope alive!!

In other news, I challenge you all to check out the book The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz. It has definitely given me some unique perspective on dealing with one's place in life, and in dealings with others.

Love you, Playgrounders!
*hugs*
~Joe