i can honestly say, that i doubt very many of you had a childhood like mine. i can also honestly say that people whom are weak minded often blame their short comings off on anything BUT where the problem lies.. which is to say, THEY are at fault.

my childhood contained almost everything you can imagine as far as "abuse" defines. and i rarely if ever allow it to effect my adult views.

this may, or may not be relevant to what Cassius said, but speaking as a survivor of a horrid childhood... being sad, miserable, or just plain feeling sorry for one self is NOT as bad as it can get. consider yourself very lucky you don't have to put up with the issues i had to.

life indeed is "what YOU make of it"

/ rambling.

well, i'm sorry you feel that way cass, but i am not the one to convince you otherwise. i would never wish you harm, but the only way you will ever see is when/if something worse occurs. there are "living hells" and "living nightmare's" i promise. and people survive them just fine. sadly some don't. the ones who don't, pass on the tradition of abuse, creating the next generation of sad children.

my dearest hope, is that you only have your current troubles. if you get none worse, you will be just fine.

far be it for me to present a false disposition. i am not an optimist, at least not the Webster definition of the word. i believe life stinks, but i also believe that if you omit that portion and concentrate on whats left, you will be alright. i know i said this before, but it still is true for me. the youth around the pit, they live in a circle and constantly worry about whats on the OUTSIDE of it. they always complain or bellyache, or otherwise look at the darkest portions of life, because its outside their little circles. me, i look inward, my circle expands and contracts from time to time, but i still stay inside it. sometimes i think the circle has exceeded my ability to cope but i prevail, cause i have to.

kids today, at least the ones whom really don't know what "rough" or "tough" genuinely means.. as i said, i would never wish harm upon them, but imagine, you are 5, and the person whom you are supposed to trust is beating you with their fists. your last thought before you slip into unconsciouses "why"

i would have given anything to have most of todays childhood "problems"..

anywho's today is a day of happy, this topic has turned a funny direction. not one i am hesitant to continue, cause i can deal with it. but i also feel that it may be hard for some as well.

life is what you make of it guys, i swear. i still ask "why" sometimes, but i just draw my circle in till i can cope again.

That's the thing: it isn't. Depression, as I have experienced it (both clinical and 'not-clinical,' at different times of my life), is not something that any degree of perspective can change. A hopeful perspective can be true, it can be correct - if you tell yourself that you will be happy again, of course you'd be right - it can't help you. It alleviates nothing, because depression is not like a child's crying fit; it doesn't have to be based on anything apparent, real, or concrete, and it is certainly not based on anything petty or anything that can be 'thought away.'

One of the few things of true value I have learned from my experiences: feelings are like places. A happy person can remember feeling sadness and extend every sympathy towards someone who is truly sad, but neither can truly understand how the other feels. They are utterly foreign to each other. Telling someone of happiness communicates this: absolutely nothing. I apologize for being angry, but don't tell me about good perspective, about hope and positivity, because I have seen the lives of people very close to me go to places that you or I could never understand with a lifetime of idle observation and a million phrases or maxims about living a meaningful and fulfilled life.