Andrew: How can you live your life like that? Always expecting the worst? It would make me so depressed, do you never get excited about anything? "strive for the best and expect the worst"- so basically you work your arse off and then expect for it all to go wrong. Maybe you are much happier when things do work out, but i really don't believe in living life in that way.
Rosie, its hard to explain in such a short space, but yeah, basically you got it right. While I always HOPE for the best, I always expect the worst. Because, more often than not, things never work out exactly the way we hope. So I play the odds.
The way I see it, there is nothing more heartbreaking than dissapointment. When you get your hopes up and expect something wonderful and it just doesn't happen. That is a HORRIBLE feeling.
You say you can't live life expecting the worst, I say I can't live life with constant dissapointment. I'd spend my whole life disspointed in mankind, disspointed in coworkers, dissapointed in movies, CD's, sports teams etc. I hate that feeling.
You say that it would make you depressed, but really, it's just the opposite. I am one of the LEAST moody or depressed people you will ever meet. Because I never have to overcome dissapointment. I've just lowered my standards of what makes me happy. So little things make me happy now. It doesn't take the world to make me smile, it just takes something small.
Think about it. If you expect a new car for christmas, and you get a pair of skates, you're gonna be bummed out. If you expect a lump of coal and you get a pair of skates, you're gonna be tickled. So all you have to do, is not be bummed out about expecting that lump of coal. Which is just a matter of lowering your expectations.
And love: how could it not exist? if it is simply a chemical reaction then what makes people move thousands of miles to be with each other? Why is it so extreme? Why do people feel such strong emotions when they first see someone? Even if it has been proven, you can choose not to believe it and that is what i'm choosing!!
and unrequited love SUUUUUUUUUUUCks, i think there should be a ermmm law passed against it. lol
unrequited love. Ah. such a Romantic (with a cap. R) concept. Ironically enough, that's my favorite era of literature.
The fact that love is a strong emotion doesn't prove its existance. Lust can make people move thousands of miles to be with someone else too. Anger can make people do some nutty things, but its not a magical force either. It's just a strong emotion.
it IS possible to believe in love as a magical force... but if you do, then you are a very superstitious person. Which is ok. It's just something you should acknowlege about yourself.
---Andre