how $400 and a car saved my life

[atlashead]

I was 20 and on probation.  I was on the verge of killing myself, just so sick of everything.  I wasn't supposed to leave the state of WI, but I called my dad and he gave me 400$ and I got in my truck and went to Illinois.  This was in the days before the smart phone, so if you're going to do this, bring one.  I stayed at NIU's hotel and they have a bowling alley and arcade in the basement.  I walked around the campus and went to a majors fair and got to think about what I wanted to pursue.  I barely talked to anyone.  I got in my car and drove aimlessly, ended up on a highway surrounded by lush foliage that lead to a small town called Clinton, Iowa.  It seemingly had a steel mill or something.  I got there as the sky was purple before the dawn, and went into a grocery store.  It struck me that this store was different: in the bakery section were pastries that were very colorful and each different.  I realized that art is dependent on industry, that the richer we are, the more art we can create, and thus the more happiness we can achieve.  Anybody on the brink of suicide, or who just needs a pick-me-up should go on a trip like this, to see nature & realize that all of man's greatest achievements are interconnected & interdependent.  The root of money really is the root of all good.

[Brant Gaede]

My Mother was born in Clinton, Iowa in 1914.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

AH,

Here's a money thought for you, one I came to on my own. It's only tangential to suicide-related despair, but it's a way out the depressed person can think about instead of just his problem, and possibly gain a glimmer of solace.

Every single penny in your pocket on up to every large sum you possess arrived there through the hand of another person. All money, all of it in your life, comes from some human being other than you.

What this means is that each sum of money represents a human relationship, however close or distant. There's family relationship money. There's money from people in your community, people you work for or buy from. There's money from the dark side, too. It's not just money, it's people who come into your life. 

Even when you get money from a machine or online, those places always have a human being at the other end and, although distant, you get a relationship with them--a relationship with enough trust to transact with them (or anger and distrust because you were not happy with what they provided).

If you want happiness with money, take care to make all your money relationships with people who make you happy, people you can love or, at least, admire. If you get money from lousy places or lousy activities, you generally get the lousy people it comes with. They come waltzing right into your life. And they can make you depressed as all hell. The best way to avoid them is to not take their money. 

This goes for handing out money, too, whether buying, loaning to someone, giving, etc. If you hand out money to lousy people, you will get them in your life. If you hand out money to wonderful people, you generally get those in your life. If you hand out money without thinking about it, you get pot luck in people. That can be horrible at times.

There are only about 7.5 billion people on the planet, so it's a pretty good bet you can find lots of wonderful people from whom you can get money and to whom you can hand out money. Wonderful people bring good vibes in your life. Often, they make you want to be wonderful, too.

This is not a suicide cure (or it might be in some cases), but I bet this angle resonates with a lot of people and sparks a moment of hope in some. It certainly resonated with me when I came up with it. And it has changed the lives of several people I know (including me  ). 

Michael

[BaalChatzaf]

7 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

AH,

Here's a money thought for you, one I came to on my own. It's only tangential to suicide-related despair, but it's a way out the depressed person can think about instead of just his problem, and possibly gain a glimmer of solace.

Every single penny in your pocket on up to every large sum you possess arrived there through the hand of another person. All money, all of it in your life, comes from some human being other than you.

What this means is that each sum of money represents a human relationship, however close or distant. There's family relationship money. There's money from people in your community, people you work for or buy from. There's money from the dark side, too. It's not just money, it's people who come into your life. 

Even when you get money from a machine or online, those places always have a human being at the other end and, although distant, you get a relationship with them--a relationship with enough trust to transact with them (or anger and distrust because you were not happy with what they provided).

If you want happiness with money, take care to make all your money relationships with people who make you happy, people you can love or, at least, admire. If you get money from lousy places or lousy activities, you generally get the lousy people it comes with. They come waltzing right into your life. And they can make you depressed as all hell. The best way to avoid them is to not take their money. 

This goes for handing out money, too, whether buying, loaning to someone, giving, etc. If you hand out money to lousy people, you will get them in your life. If you hand out money to wonderful people, you generally get those in your life. If you hand out money without thinking about it, you get pot luck in people. That can be horrible at times.

There are only about 7.5 billion people on the planet, so it's a pretty good bet you can find lots of wonderful people from whom you can get money and to whom you can hand out money. Wonderful people bring good vibes in your life. Often, they make you want to be wonderful, too.

This is not a suicide cure (or it might be in some cases), but I bet this angle resonates with a lot of people and sparks a moment of hope in some. It certainly resonated with me when I came up with it. And it has changed the lives of several people I know (including me  ). 

Michael

That is right up there with Franscico's  "money speech".   Well done. 

[BaalChatzaf]

8 hours ago, Brant Gaede said:

My Mother was born in Clinton, Iowa in 1914.

--Brant

Woe!  You must be a geezer yourself.  My Mom was born in 1917 and my Dad in 1912.   Neither of them lived as long as their parents (alas).  I have lived 17 years longer than my dad  13 years longer than my mom.   The Great Depression, I do not doubt,  shortened their lives. I was born before WW2  and just as the Great Depression was starting to end. 

[BaalChatzaf]

7 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

AH,

Here's a money thought for you, one I came to on my own. It's only tangential to suicide-related despair, but it's a way out the depressed person can think about instead of just his problem, and possibly gain a glimmer of solace.

Every single penny in your pocket on up to every large sum you possess arrived there through the hand of another person. All money, all of it in your life, comes from some human being other than you.

What this means is that each sum of money represents a human relationship, however close or distant. There's family relationship money. There's money from people in your community, people you work for or buy from. There's money from the dark side, too. It's not just money, it's people who come into your life. 

Even when you get money from a machine or online, those places always have a human being at the other end and, although distant, you get a relationship with them--a relationship with enough trust to transact with them (or anger and distrust because you were not happy with what they provided).

If you want happiness with money, take care to make all your money relationships with people who make you happy, people you can love or, at least, admire. If you get money from lousy places or lousy activities, you generally get the lousy people it comes with. They come waltzing right into your life. And they can make you depressed as all hell. The best way to avoid them is to not take their money. 

This goes for handing out money, too, whether buying, loaning to someone, giving, etc. If you hand out money to lousy people, you will get them in your life. If you hand out money to wonderful people, you generally get those in your life. If you hand out money without thinking about it, you get pot luck in people. That can be horrible at times.

There are only about 7.5 billion people on the planet, so it's a pretty good bet you can find lots of wonderful people from whom you can get money and to whom you can hand out money. Wonderful people bring good vibes in your life. Often, they make you want to be wonderful, too.

This is not a suicide cure (or it might be in some cases), but I bet this angle resonates with a lot of people and sparks a moment of hope in some. It certainly resonated with me when I came up with it. And it has changed the lives of several people I know (including me  ). 

Michael

Nowadays with credit cards  and such  money seems to come "out of nowhere".  Also buying stuff online has removed a human face-to-face  factor in getting the stuff we want or need. Automation of monetary and commercial interactions has its uses   but we also lose something in the process. Nowadays  the velocity of money is well beyond the pace that could be maintained through human connection.  Too many computers in the loop.   Another thing...  the use of computers has rendered money almost completely abstract.  Money was always abstract but until the last 50 or 60 years  money translations were largely done through face to face or voice to ear  human  interactions.  

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

2 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

... the use of computers has rendered money almost completely abstract.

Bob,

If you want to see what kind of human comes with that kind of money, don't pay your bill.

The human will appear.

At such time, you might notice all the covert enticements that came with that kind of money. The tempter was not a piece of plastic or a computer, but a human. (Another name for tempter down the ages has been Satan.  )

If you like manipulative assholes, use their money. They will manipulate you to use it and keep using it until you break, but once you don't (or can't) play according to their rules, you meet the asshole side.  

There's always a human with money...

You don't get to choose that. You only get to choose what kind of human comes into your life with the money you take and hand out.

Michael

[BaalChatzaf]

1 minute ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Bob,

If you want to see what kind of human comes with that kind of money, don't pay your bill.

The human will appear.

At such time, you might notice all the covert enticements that came with that kind of money. The tempter was not a piece of plastic or a computer, but a human. (Another name for tempter down the ages has been Satan.  )

If you like manipulative assholes, use their money. They will manipulate you to use it and keep using it until you break, but once you don't (or can't) play according to their rules, you meet the asshole side.  

There's always a human with money...

You don't get to choose that. You only get to choose what kind of human comes into your life with the money you take and hand out.

Michael

Automation does not eliminate the human factors. It just makes them less visible.

[Brant Gaede]

6 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Bob,

If you want to see what kind of human comes with that kind of money, don't pay your bill.

The human will appear.

At such time, you might notice all the covert enticements that came with that kind of money. The tempter was not a piece of plastic or a computer, but a human. (Another name for tempter down the ages has been Satan.  )

If you like manipulative assholes, use their money. They will manipulate you to use it and keep using it until you break, but once you don't (or can't) play according to their rules, you meet the asshole side.  

There's always a human with money...

You don't get to choose that. You only get to choose what kind of human comes into your life with the money you take and hand out.

Michael

I think you're still in Brazil.

--Brant

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

11 minutes ago, Brant Gaede said:

I think you're still in Brazil.

Brant,

Really?

You think getting money from Americans is different than getting money from Brazilians?

Heh...

Michael