being happy and content

[MynameisnotDeja]

You also have to keep in mind that chemo is a pretty brutal thing to put someone through. I understand there are (rare, IMO) cases where it works and the cancer doesn't come back, and I think it should be an option in those cases (and from what I understand this was one of those cases). There would be very few situations in which I would feel it was right to put my child through chemo. Poisoning the body to get rid of the tumor just doesn't make sense to me. Its a very short term solution, if anything.

 

[Heuristic]

You also have to keep in mind that chemo is a pretty brutal thing to put someone through. I understand there are (rare, IMO) cases where it works and the cancer doesn't come back, and I think it should be an option in those cases (and from what I understand this was one of those cases). There would be very few situations in which I would feel it was right to put my child through chemo. Poisoning the body to get rid of the tumor just doesn't make sense to me. Its a very short term solution, if anything.

I hear you, but in this case the numbers came out like this:

With chemo: 95% cancer goes into remission and the tumor is destroyed.

Without chemo: 5% chance of remission; 95% chance the child will be dead in less than 5 years.

So.... there it is. It is poisoning the body to an extent, but in a similar way your body's fever, a natural immune response to a virus, also kills healthy cells; the point of the fever is to kill more of the hostile cells, though, and so allow the body to survive. To take another example, surgery is a violent invasion of the body, resulting in all kinds of mutilation, but it is done to effect a good purpose, and the wounds can heal.

So too with chemo.

And in the case of this child, that kind of option is his chance to survive.

 

[MynameisnotDeja]

All I can say is I hope they get that child on a proper diet of healing foods and other natural therapy after the chemo is over. I hope he's okay. I hate thinking about sick kids.

 

[Enlitx]

All I can say is I hope they get that child on a proper diet of healing foods and other natural therapy after the chemo is over. I hope he's okay. I hate thinking about sick kids.

Luckily for the child, care of this sort will only be allowed after the M.D.s have done their work.

 

[Heuristic]

Or not.

The mother has apparently fled with the boy, and an arrest warrant has been issued.

An x-ray taken on Monday shows that the tumor has now fully regrown.

 

[Enlitx]

Or not.

The mother has apparently fled with the boy, and an arrest warrant has been issued.

An x-ray taken on Monday shows that the tumor has now fully regrown.

Hey, maybe they will find a sweat lodge while on the run and cure the boy 8). I hate stupid people who endanger the lives of others because of their stupidity.

 

[glitterbizkit]

Going back to the whole happiness question... I partly agree with those saying that happiness is a choice... But saying that can make it seem like an easy one, and it's not! In fact I'd be more inclined to say that happiness is a skill, or perhaps a habit. God knows I've spent enough time and effort and money on both therapy and self-help trying to acquire the habit/ skill of happiness... And although I've come a little bit further there's still a long, long way to go. Making out that it's just a simple matter of choosing (choosing it may be, but simple it is not) can make people who are already down feel even worse for being too stupid, lazy or unworthy to 'get it'. I know I've felt like that. I admit there are times when I've just been wallowing in self-pity and misery and all I needed was a good slap in the face to stop being silly, but at other times it really hurts to hear 'just snap out of it' when you just truly don't know how to!

Also, I think when you've been depressed for a long time, it becomes difficult to let go of it because you view it as such a large part of who you are. It's difficult to face change, and even more so when you're in a negative mindset to begin with...

 

[L O V E L I F E]

^^^^^^

Excellent post.

 

[ThaiDie4]

I believe they ended up finding the boy and his mom and she's agreed to get him on chemo.

THANK GOD.

I respect those who perfer alternative medicines, i have my own opinion on that, but I think its wrong to tell an adult what to do with their body. But for this kid, who will most likely survive because of the treatments AND his parents can afford it, I do agree that he should go through with it.

* EDIT: Yes, I wanted to add Glitterbizkit, that I agree with the others- your post is dead on! It is so true, choosing to be happy IS one of the toughest things to do. Both in terms of actually putting in the skill and practice to obtain happiness, and the fact that sometimes you just don't even know where to start! Great insight

 

[L2R]

yeah, nice on glitter. it is a choice, but the road to get there can be very rough.

from my own experience, it is something that cannot be achieved through a direct line. the best route that i have found that can lead to happiness is simply through being busy. being active. focusing on small things, one at a time, can build an incredible sense of accomplishment and happiness/contentment. the balancing act there is that too much can also lead to increased stress.

but then again, stress and happiness isn't always mutually exclusive.

 

[Enlitx]

from my own experience, it is something that cannot be achieved through a direct line. the best route that i have found that can lead to happiness is simply through being busy. being active. focusing on small things, one at a time, can build an incredible sense of accomplishment and happiness/contentment. the balancing act there is that too much can also lead to increased stress.

I agree about staying busy increasing happiness. There is actually a theory in psychology about why we have so much depression these days. It suggests that since we have so many quick fixes and the use of modern technology, we don't have to work for anything anymore. Things like meals are just a purchase away. It short circuits our reward pathways that rely on accomplishments for activation.

About choosing to be happy, that is a tough question. I can't see a depressed person just waking up and saying "I will be happy today". Then again, small choices on how you choose to handle certain events can increase your happiness in the longterm. I'll just play it safe and go the determinism route, we don't really make any choices anyways :D.

 

[Seanoin]

I fight to be content everyday of my life; always have.

 

[Enlitx]

I fight to be content everyday of my life; always have.

Thats a weird situation to be in, since being content is often the lack of conflict/fighting. Although I am just playing a semantics game, don't mind me.

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

Yeah, that's the funny thing about contentment / peace of mind. It's something I have a sense can't be grasped at or aimed for directly. It has to come naturally, as a result of having certain things in your life, both inner and outer, in order.

I keep revisiting Alan Watts' metaphor of being caught in a net. The more you thrash and struggle, the more caught you are. The more you just let go, the closer you are to freeing yourself.

 

[L2R]

^who knew the secret to happiness could be found in a set of chinese fingercuffs :D

 

[Chimeric]

Yeah, that's the funny thing about contentment / peace of mind. It's something I have a sense can't be grasped at or aimed for directly. It has to come naturally, as a result of having certain things in your life, both inner and outer, in order.

I keep revisiting Alan Watts' metaphor of being caught in a net. The more you thrash and struggle, the more caught you are. The more you just let go, the closer you are to freeing yourself.

Nice metaphor.

I've also realized that being happy and content involves living life and actually doing things rather than living your life in your head. Overthinking has often led to depression in my experience.

Positive thinking doesn't work right away, but once you've found an outlook that works for you, things tend to get better with each passing day. Haha it's so hard to put into words, but that's how it has been for me.

 

[aanallein]

"Get busy living.

Or get busy dying.

That's GODDAMNED RIGHT!"

-- Morgan Freeman, As Ellis Boyd ("Red") Redding, in one of the most poignant scenes, in THE most poignant film I have EVER seen, The Shawshank Redemption.

Best movie moment ever.



And I agree with the sentiment of some here. Happiness is a choice.

 

[aanallein]

at the risk of being unpopular p), i'd say an established "rights of passage" process desperately needs to be developed for the 1st world, including (but not limited to), scarification and guided psychoactive exploration.

aside from sports development, all we have in our culture to develop our minds for adulthood at the moment is the santa clause disappointment, but on its own it is not enough.

we're spoiled rotten as it is, and the less experience with pain (for the lack of a better word) we have in our developing, the more emotional and psychological problems result, since we are not accutely aware of ourselves and our limitations.

as it stands, our society focuses more on stagnant comfort (to the point of being drugged by it)than on quality of life. had we known how to live properly, i doubt many of these problems would exist.

imho of course.

Too fucking true. Many probably don't even fully grasp what you're talking about either.

Ever read Clan of the Cave Bear? Your thoughts remind me a lot of that series.

 

[aanallein]

I guess I really don't see the point in keeping it natural. As I have already stated, science has provided us the tools to figure out exactly what is going on with natural supplements, therefore it is always better to try and isolate and use exactly what is working.

There are just as many natural things that can kill you or harm you as opposed to helping you. I mean, you could use poppy pods as a "natural" way to kill pain, but then you get all of the other alkaloids that have unwanted side effects. It just doesen't make sense to me.

You're missing a huge point here.

Herbal medicines have been studied, categorized, and used for millennium. Thousands upon thousands of years. This information has been carefully handed down from generation to generation of medicine men and women. We've had modern chemical based medicine for all of 2 hundred years maximum. You discount herbal medicines and say modern medicine is superior. I won't argue that finding a single compound capable of treating a very specific disease is great, but it's going to take us a LONG time before we categorize and fully understand the pros and cons to every molecule available to medicine. Meanwhile we have thousands upon thousands of species of plants that we know of with medical applications that are still useful and well understood through hundreds of generations of use.

The problem is that we've lost access to that information in the west. We no longer have tribal medicine men/women who were trained by those before them and passed down knowledge. All we have is aging hippies selling bullshit out of shitty corner stores. It's no where near the same thing.

 

[aanallein]

I saw something in the news today that made me think of this thread. The parents of a child with cancer wanted to stop chemotherapy and use "alternative" medicine. They wanted to use herbs, diet, spiritual practices, and sweat lodges to heal their son. A court ordered them to turn over medical care to the oncologist.

Just thought it was interesting that when someone's life is on the line, Western Medicine is considered so far superior that a court can force parents to use it. Those parents wouldn't happen to be posters in this forum would they?

And if those people were under the supervision of a legitimate medicine man/woman or shaman or what have you then I wouldn't have a problem with it. We don't have that kind of knowledge anymore in western society so you cannot compare western medicine with western shamanism or whatever since it doesn't even exist. They were trying to play doctor with their kid and they don't have any understanding of what they are doing so I agree with the court decision.