Return Styles: Pseud0ch, Terminal, Valhalla, NES, Geocities, Blue Moon. Entire thread

I have a fucking problem.

Name: Zero One 2007-11-13 5:06

I have a serious problem.

Every day, I wake up haunted by the same fear that's been haunting me for years, and its sheer existance is the one single greatest thing holding me back from ever overcoming it. I think about it when I eat breakfast, I think about it while I'm running to class. I dread about it when I take my tests, I worry about it every time I talk to my parents, friends, family. It makes me wonder too hard and it makes thinking impossible. It keeps clarity from my mind and keeps sanity from my self. It holds me back farther than anything you could ever think of. You simply cannot comprehend how powerfully afraid I am of it, and how stupid it really is. How much it drives every action I take, ever thought process I make, every single word I speak. It's killing me just as fast as I'm growing up, and it's only moving only slightly faster than the second hand on my watch.

We all have primes. We all have golden years in life where we are at a peak of existance, where we will never relize how great it really is until it's over. We all have a chance to become something great, something memorable. We all have the same opportunities and chances as anyone else to be the greatest, most world-renowned person on the face of the planet. Life is like an ever long party, where you're either going to sit back in the corner and watch the shit go down from afar, or you're going to be that guy in the middle, the heart of everything, keeping the party going all night.

More than anything else in the world, I am absolutley terrified of dying alone and forgotten, abscent from any history book or mind. Erased from history at a whole, I would cease to exist on the premise that in the bigger picture, it wouldn't have mattered if I had in the first place or not. Fearing it keeps me from ever becoming anything good, and I won't be truley happy unless I'm the top. Unless everyone knows my name. Unless I'm remembered until the end of time. Because the only way to truely become immortalized is to stay alive as an idea, a hope, a representation in everyones mind as something great.

It's the most selfish vice of all, but it's mine, and it feels like every single day I worry about it, a calander loses one more day from my opportunity to save myself from absolute oblivion. I can't stop worrying about it, but I can't do anything about it. I'm stuck in a rut, and it's ruining everything I've ever had. There is no help, no answer and no comfort to this. It's probably the root of why I push people away, and why I have to do this alone. I wish there was a way to turn off caring, I really do, but I can't find it, and even if I did I'm not sure I'd even want to.

99% of the people on the face of this planet will die with only a handful of people knowing who they were, their story, their life. Everywhere you look you can find people going to their mundane jobs, doing the same thing everyday, living the 'simple life'. You work, you make money, you support yourself and possibly a family, and you die. You wake up at 9 am every damned day of your life and crave 5pm to come like the end of time. It scares me more than you could ever understand that I will become that person. And I know, if I become a doctor and seriously go through with this route in college, I will get no farther in life than that guy who's name I'll never know.

I have this dream, it's a really stupid dream but it's one of the only repetative dreams I've ever had, and it's very basic. I'm on a motorcycle, I'm racing up a jump, and this jump propels me into the stratosphere, and every single person on the face of the planet is watching me, to see if I'll make the jump or fall to my death. For one small collection of seconds I can look around to every single face and prove myself as something great, and everyone would at least remember me for who I was, for what I did, and for what I have become.

I think about a lot of people, especially back in high school, who I know I'll always remember probably until the day I die. Some of them will remember me, and some of them won't. There's some people I used to know I'd do anything to call up on the phone sometime and just say "Hey, what's up..." but won't because of something stupid like I'm sure they won't even remember me, or whatever. Every single day I wish I could go back to some day in the past and change something, say something, not say something, or just grab someone's hand and say, "This is it, this is what I really meant to say." I live my life full of regret and it's something I'll never be able to change, fufilling the total irony of regret itself.

And Goddamnit I wish I could have. More than anything else in the world I wish I could have.

This fear, a fear of being lost somewhere in the sea of the everyday normal populace, is a problem. And I have no idea how to solve this problem other than to do something totally radical, take some big risk and either win way big, or crash super hard. Either way, people have done it. Every single citizen in this fucking country knows who George Washington is. You see him every time you break out that dollar. That's what I want. That's what I need. To be remembered.

What the fuck is up, I don't know what I should do. What should I do?

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 5:39

Go out there and be remembered for all time. Destroy the world.

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 6:41

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 6:51

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 6:59

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 7:07

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 7:15

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 7:41

Delicious Pasta

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 7:51

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 15:20

            Chocolate Rain
            Some stay dry and others feel the pain
            Chocolate Rain
            A baby born will die before the sin

            Chocolate Rain
            The school books say it can't be here again
            Chocolate Rain
            The prisons make you wonder where it went

            Chocolate Rain
            Build a tent and say the world is dry
            Chocolate Rain
            Zoom the camera out and see the lie

            Chocolate Rain
            Forecast to be falling yesterday
            Chocolate Rain
            Only in the past is what they say

            Chocolate Rain
            Raised your neighborhood insurance rates
            Chocolate Rain
            Makes us happy 'livin in a gate

            Chocolate Rain
            Made me cross the street the other day
            Chocolate Rain
            Made you turn your head the other way

            (Chorus)
            Chocolate Rain
            History quickly crashing through your veins
            Chocolate Rain
            Using you to fall back down again
            [Repeat]

            Chocolate Rain
            Seldom mentioned on the radio
            Chocolate Rain
            Its the fear your leaders call control

            Chocolate Rain
            Worse than swearing worse than calling names
            Chocolate Rain
            Say it publicly and you're insane

            Chocolate Rain
            No one wants to hear about it now
            Chocolate Rain
            Wish real hard it goes away somehow

            Chocolate Rain
            Makes the best of friends begin to fight
            Chocolate Rain
            But did they know each other in the light?

            Chocolate Rain
            Every February washed away
            Chocolate Rain
            Stays behind as colors celebrate

            Chocolate Rain
            The same crime has a higher price to pay
            chocolate Rain
            The judge and jury swear it's not the face

            (Chorus)

            Chocolate Rain
            Dirty secrets of economy
            Chocolate Rain
            Turns that body into GDP

            Chocolate Rain
            The bell curve blames the baby's DNA
            Chocolate Rain
            But test scores are how much the parents make

            Chocolate Rain
            'Flippin cars in France the other night
            Chocolate Rain
            Cleans the sewers out beneath Mumbai

            Chocolate Rain
            'Cross the world and back its all the same
            Chocolate Rain
            Angels cry and shake their heads in shame

            Chocolate Rain
            Lifts the ark of paradise in sin
            Chocolate Rain
            Which part do you think you're 'livin in?

            Chocolate Rain
            More than 'marchin more than passing law
            Chocolate Rain
            Remake how we got to where we are

Name: 4chanisgay 2007-11-13 15:23

            Chocolate Rain
            Some stay dry and others feel the pain
            Chocolate Rain
            A baby born will die before the sin

            Chocolate Rain
            The school books say it can't be here again
            Chocolate Rain
            The prisons make you wonder where it went

            Chocolate Rain
            Build a tent and say the world is dry
            Chocolate Rain
            Zoom the camera out and see the lie

            Chocolate Rain
            Forecast to be falling yesterday
            Chocolate Rain
            Only in the past is what they say

            Chocolate Rain
            Raised your neighborhood insurance rates
            Chocolate Rain
            Makes us happy 'livin in a gate

            Chocolate Rain
            Made me cross the street the other day
            Chocolate Rain
            Made you turn your head the other way

            (Chorus)
            Chocolate Rain
            History quickly crashing through your veins
            Chocolate Rain
            Using you to fall back down again
            [Repeat]

            Chocolate Rain
            Seldom mentioned on the radio
            Chocolate Rain
            Its the fear your leaders call control

            Chocolate Rain
            Worse than swearing worse than calling names
            Chocolate Rain
            Say it publicly and you're insane

            Chocolate Rain
            No one wants to hear about it now
            Chocolate Rain
            Wish real hard it goes away somehow

            Chocolate Rain
            Makes the best of friends begin to fight
            Chocolate Rain
            But did they know each other in the light?

            Chocolate Rain
            Every February washed away
            Chocolate Rain
            Stays behind as colors celebrate

            Chocolate Rain
            The same crime has a higher price to pay
            chocolate Rain
            The judge and jury swear it's not the face

            (Chorus)

            Chocolate Rain
            Dirty secrets of economy
            Chocolate Rain
            Turns that body into GDP

            Chocolate Rain
            The bell curve blames the baby's DNA
            Chocolate Rain
            But test scores are how much the parents make

            Chocolate Rain
            'Flippin cars in France the other night
            Chocolate Rain
            Cleans the sewers out beneath Mumbai

            Chocolate Rain
            'Cross the world and back its all the same
            Chocolate Rain
            Angels cry and shake their heads in shame

            Chocolate Rain
            Lifts the ark of paradise in sin
            Chocolate Rain
            Which part do you think you're 'livin in?

            Chocolate Rain
            More than 'marchin more than passing law
            Chocolate Rain
            Remake how we got to where we are

btw tldr

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 15:30

lol get over it

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 16:04

save up money for a psychiatrist. go visit a psychiatrist

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 18:47

lol
you should get that fucking problem looked at by a doctor

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 19:30

Your motorcycle thing is pretty stupid. Only a tiny fraction of people follow the sport - Even Evel Kneivel, who is probably the most famous biker in history, is only really well known in America, and 100 years from now, no one will have a clue who he was. The same could be said for most things, really - the world only remembers them for a short time. Sure, political leaders can be remembered for hundreds, even thousands of years, but eventually they are forgotten.

This is true for all things. Nothing you can do is unique, nothing you are capable of doing is so amazing that it will be remembered forever. Humanity won't last forever, and anything one person does won't even be remembered for all the time that Humanity is present in this universe.

As to your thing about wanting to change the past: well, its been said hundreds of times before by hundreds of different philosophers and religious leaders: You can't. Sometimes everyone would like to go back and change things, but its not possible. Personally, I really enjoyed the time when I was 14/15/16, I knew a lot of great people, I used to go out partying and I know that, if I acted differently in that time, if I had given up my computer and the internet at that time, I could have become a good and normal person, rather than some internet geek. Sometimes I wish I'd done those things and taken that other path, but it’s not possible, I have to continue on living based on the directions I have taken before in my life.

If it makes it any better, know that this is just a stage you are going through. I imagine you are between the ages of 17 and 21 - you've stopped asking questions like "Why do my parents hate me?" And started asking questions like "Why am I here?". You've moved from Teenage emotional angst to college student Existential angst. I did the same thing.

When I hit this stage in my life, I began thinking the same way as you do: "I want to be rich, I want to be famous, so people remember me." In my case, I hit this stage at age 17, so I decided to work really hard and go to a good university. But this stage passed... though I suppose, being an internet geek, those hard working goals don't really gel particularly well with my personality. I got into a pretty good university, and met lots of interesting people, and after a time those thoughts of greatness started to become less important. I would rather live a happy life, have fun with my friends and do the things I want to do, rather than working hard, having no fun, and at the end of it achieving some kind of ephemeral fame that lasts no more than 100 years after I die.

Really though, this isn't a question I can answer for you: only you can decide what to do with your life. Maybe, like me, you will choose to forget about it, maybe your desire not to be forgotten will stay with you your entire life, perhaps you'll spend your whole life searching for greatness.

At the end of the day though, your desire for fame is just an unfortunate offshoot of your body's evolved desire for survival: Your body automatically tries to avoid death, that’s why you fear things, so that you might try to not do the things that cause fear, things which generally lead to death, or the increased possibility of death.

What you have to do is overcome your fear of death. You could find God, if you like, though that always seemed like the cowards way out, to me. You could try to enjoy each day as it greets you, without making big plans, because thoughts of the future tend to bring with them thoughts of old age and death. Either way, you should stop thinking about the past, because its something you can't change. Think about the present or the future, never the past.

Perhaps you consider my way of living, my way of ignoring those fears of the future, those fears of death, that desire for the past as a weakness. Indeed, I believe that Socrates said: "The unexamined life is not worth living". I don't agree with that, I prefer the words of a Scientist to a Philosopher. Allow me to quote Carl Sagan, when he was referring to a picture of the Earth taken by the Voyager space probe as it left our Solar System. In it, the earth is just a single pixel in size:

"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves."

As I said before, you have to find your own path in life. You may find it comforting to know that eventually this stage in your life, when you ask these questions, will pass. The problem is that you do sort of have to find some kind of direction/purpose/meaning before it does pass. Personally, I went for the "Live easy and have fun" option. This seems like the best and easiest way to go, if you can get over your fears of death, your fears of being forgotten. But whatever you decide, it has to be the choice you make.


Aside: Why did I just write two pages worth of text to some internet guy no one is probably ever going to read? Perhaps I needed to frame my own thoughts on this subject into words, too...

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 19:32

>>15

Oh, by the way, Carl Sagan was a big pot smoker. I've heard that helps.

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 20:20

TL;DR.

Name: RedCream 2007-11-13 20:28

Great.  When grad students go emo.  MAXIFAIL.

Name: RedCream 2007-11-13 22:39

>>18
Nice try bitch boy impersonator but you'll have to try a little harder than that if you want to become the phenomenon that is social outcast RedCream.

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 22:45

I don't give a crap if one redcream is an imposter or not, ANYONE POSTING WITH THE NAME REDCREAM IS A GAY COCKSUCKING FAGGOT

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 22:47

I wonder what all that text was about.  I sure as hell didn't read it.  These redcreams are good though.

Name: Anonymous 2007-11-13 22:48

>>20 damn straight

Name: RedCream 2007-11-13 22:59

>>20
New breed of RedCream that has evolved out of the ashes from the last /lounge/ [sp]civil[/sp] war. +14 Faggotry, -7 Cock Length and Instant Auto Anus Lube dubbed the "Undercover RedCream" with the sole purpose of determine how well RedCream's prescence is being welcomed in /lounge/.

Name: Anonymouse 2007-11-13 23:01

??? 00101001 ???

Newer Posts
Don't change these.
Name: Email:
Entire Thread Thread List