(December 31, 2015 at 8:20 pm)MTL Wrote:(December 31, 2015 at 7:41 pm)wallym Wrote: I wonder if people put on a happier face on an atheist forum (although that's not the case in this thread, or maybe I just get an inaccurate sample based on the threads I open), because of the Us vs. Them attitude with the Theists. Things like being scared of dying, or that evil people prosper is kind of shoved in the closet as Atheists tout how great not believing in God is?
What scared me more was the prospect of tragedy
...the idea that the one life we have might end up wasted or tragic, in some way, rather than full and happy.
But, in any event, you face it and make the best of it.
When thinking on depression, or maybe just discontent, I wonder how much of that is about the story we're told. Life is hyped up something fierce when we're growing up. Do anything, be anything. Make something of yourself. Make a difference. Etc... The implication being that if you don't, you've wasted something.
And then after that, they're like "But you know, just do what makes you happy." I think if we take our lives a little less seriously, it's easier to find happiness. Alas, anytime you swim upstream against the socially accepted position, you've got your work cut out for you believing it.
