Welcome to General Chat - GAW Community Area
This General Chat area started off as a place for people to talk about things that are off topic, however it has quickly evolved into a community and has become an integral part of the GAW experience for many of us.
Based on its evolving needs and plenty of user feedback, we are trying to bring some order and institute some rules. Please make sure you read these rules and participate in the spirit of this community.
Rules for General Chat
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Be respectful to each other. This is of utmost importance, and comments may be removed if deemed not respectful.
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Avoid long drawn out arguments. This should be a place to relax, not to waste your time needlessly.
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Personal anecdotes, puzzles, cute pics/clips - everything welcome
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Please do not spam at the top level. If you have a lot to post each day, try and post them all together in one top level comment
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Try keep things light. If you are bringing in deep stuff, try not to go overboard.
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Things that are clearly on-topic for this board should be posted as a separate post and not here (except if you are new and still getting the feel of this place)
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If you find people violating these rules, deport them rather than start a argument here.
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Feel free to give feedback as these rules are expected to keep evolving
In short, imagine this thread to be a local community hall where we all gather and chat daily. Please be respectful to others in the same way
Rules For the rest of the Site also accessible on the sidebar.
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Is there any use comparing people to each other, or is everyone on their own distinct path?
Sometimes yes but usually no. It strongly depends on what people, what situation, and what criteria you are using to compare.
Those two are not opposites.
Ahh, I love these kinds of ponderings. I believe people fit into personality types, and each of those types can be predictable as to what their mechanical flexes are. To achieve consciousness, a person must first be aware of what mechanical flex that they have, and then develop an ability to control mechanical reactions or actions. For example, extroverts will appear more confident in a crowd, while introverts may appear less confident. An extrovert will be drawn to paths in life that involve being around people, organizing, sales, social leaders, while the introvert may be drawn to contemplative studies, caregiving, homemaking. These are all mechanical, the person just follows the path that seems most natural to them. Our own "distinct" path can only be realized if we are aware of our "type" following a path that has nothing to do with consciousness, or choice, we just follow the groove we were created with. Serious work begins when we resist the urge to do what is mechanical, and push ourselves to do something that is truly a conscious choice. Growth occurs, options open up, when we force ourselves to do the opposite, and then observe our feelings and sensations about that. An extrovert goes to a rally or a sports event, they cheer and jump up and feel connected to the entire crowd, an introvert sighs with relief that a social commitment has been cancelled so they can go return to their books, or sewing, or tinkering, alone. Both people think they are following their own path, but in "cosmic" reality, they are just showing true to type, there is no decision making, they just follow the groove like water flowing downstream. The growth occurs when we choose to go upstream, against the flow. Not as a lifestyle, but as an excercise in self awareness. God has created us with more than our type, though. Each person does, in fact, contain all possibilities of being, the artist is capable of rebuilding an engine, the mechanic can learn to play the violin. I do believe that our Creator wants us to wake up and use all of our burners. Some cannot, due to disability, life trauma, or "accidents", those that rise above those challenges usually can because of support, prayer, and in some cases divine intervention. Sit back on any bench in any city park, and just watch people, what you will notice is the majority of people are acting out roles they were pushed into a long time ago, it is what we call the "social order". When we become aware of our roles, we often find ourselves feeling empty, controlled, or life meaningless. At that point we become vulnerable, we seek a leader, a cause, anything to give our lives meaning again. I hope that those who find themselves at that point give themselves over to God, become right sized, and dare to choose something they may never have tried before. Can we all achieve consciousness? I am not sure of that, because Jesus Christ, son of God, the great master and Lord of this world, used the statement "Let those who have ears hear, and let those who have eyes, see." This tells me that not all men have the capability of becoming "distinct". It"s not easy to be distinct, all kinds of hurdles are thrown at us, the hurdle of ego being the biggest, the hurdle of temptation to go back to sleep is always there. Without prayer, these hurdles will defeat our individual purpose. Our purpose can be found in countless books, I have read a lot of them, but always return to the Bible and writings of the masters, such as Saint Augustine, Kierkegaard, Thomas Merton, etc.
Nice reply! As an exercise, I'll try to monitor what actions/ thoughts are automatic in me and then see what i could choose to do, if I took some time to think about it.. That reminds me of the book ''Thinking Fast and Slow'' by Daniel Khaneman where our automatic reactions are 'biases' to help us quickly make sense of the world, but can be wrong in many cases.
We see similarities and differences in everything; we are, after all, pattern matching life forms. We humans were created with free will so, yes, all of our paths are different.