10 Ways to Get Endless Attention

Hi Wants,

This is so ironic! You have posted an 'endless attention' thread and it has achieved endless attention.

Brilliant stuff, and so true. I once posted a pretty lame argument on a philosophy board and stuck with it through thick and thin. Everyone, but everyone came out of the woodwork to put me right. It was an orgy of patronisation.

At the end of it (1300 views and 500 posts) I admitted that it had been a wind up. People went ballistic, I mean really mad. Just for once I had been naughty, and I loved it.

Cheers, Myzen.

True Tomi. To be on the safe side, maybe we can get some depends on her as well.

FINALLY....FINALLY....SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HOW SHALLOW I AM.....LOL.....GRACE (this was great!!!!)

I am, afterall, da devil.

Sheesh, try to make a happy-happy joy-joy, and I become incontinent

Jenn

this is for the squirrel and other tom robbins fans.....i bought "even cowgirls get the blues" to take on my honeymoon (three lives ago)and i broke it out and started it on the plane. well, i laughed so hard that people were getting out of their seats and coming to see what i was reading......i became a hardcore fan and i've never looked back.....wants, you need to read "fierce invalids"....you'd love it.....okay, back on track....sorry, i skipped around in my love for tom robbins.......

I was trying to read this whole thread before I replied, but I'm going to forget everything I wanted to say if i do...so I'm on page 7, probably going to forget most of it anyway.

First of all, when I read this post, I didn't laugh. My eyes widened and I was sucked in, thinking to myself, "finally, someone is pointing out what is wrong with the forums." I saw so much truth in every word. I have been one of those people who have taken "breaks" from the forum. At one point I swore I would never return, and I PM'd those I had made a connection with that I didn't want to loose contact with.

I don't post all that often. I mostly reply to posts that touch me, or to posts that I have an opinion about. I go to chat a lot. I read distractions because that's what I need half the time.

I found the forums when I was having serious relationship issues and needed help. I fell in love with how caring everyone was. When I first posted, I didn't get many replies, so I posted again, started hanging out in chat. But....I haven't really been able to get into my serious issues. I haven't been able to address the real reasons I came. And the reason why is all in that list.

There were times when I would try to talk about my issues in chat, or in a post, and it always became about someone else. Someone else with more serious problems came along and I was left in mid conversation, mid thread, etc. So I finally gave up. There have been some people that I've talked with outside the forums, and gotten more deep into my problems, but I still hang back, even with them, because I feel like my issues don't matter. Why?

Because I don't take meds, and I'm not in therapy (yet, haven't had good insurance). At first this put me off. I felt like, when you go to get help from the government, and they tell you to quit your job because you make too much money and then they'll help. I was pretty damn proud of myself from dealing as much as I had on my own, because I had too.

But this all taught me a lesson: I can't rely on help from others. No one is in my shoes but me, so if I"m trying to talk about problems that no one can relate to, of course I'm not going to get help. I'll get hugs (which are always welcome) but I may not get advice because not many others have been through what I have. I learned that I am my own person, that only I can help Me, and that, above all, has helped the most.

I know come to the forums to read and reply to things I relate to, to share funny stories, to chat.....all with others who are hurting in some way or another. I received the help I needed by realizing I didn't need to seek attention for my problems. I realized that to turn to myself was the best thing I could do. But I couldn't have realized this, couldn't have come this far, without meeting all of you, without reading threads like this.

And though I was close to seeing all of what I just wrote, it just became even clearer as I wrote this. I wasn't expecting these words to pile out. That is the beauty of the forums, the ablitiy to sit back and let realizations hit you, to receieve help you weren't expecting.

Haha, long story short, the original post was eye-opening and so true, and so thought provoking. And it made me want to reach out and express something positive, because the list just is an outline of what goes on on these forums, and I think it can be very positive if you allow it to be. I'd like to refer to the mirror, because I looked into it, and I am better for it, I looked into it even before the list was written.

My advice, read it again. Really apply it to yourself. No, not every number will apply to you, but some will. And those few that do, analyze why they do and fix it. I that months ago. Now I only whine about the little things =).

Ok, so I forgot all the things I was going to address, but I feel like what I wrote is what I feel. I am not in anyway hijacking, even though it is long. I just wanted to offer what has helped me so much.

Love you all!

Rayna

Raynaddi, you are so way cool. I am glad you are feeling like this thread had an impact on you. And, You are right, when it comes down to it we all have to look inside. i do so hope also that you can feel connected to some of us or others in your life and feel less alone.

((wisewoman)) being a part of these forums has made me realize that i'm not alone. and it's kinda wierd, but I really have been dealing with my issues "with myself" and not with others, and isn't that the best way to deal with the deep down personal problems, I mean for me anyway. I never realized until 30 mins ago when I wrote that post just how much the forums have helped. And it's because I'm part of a group who reach out in different ways, a group who is hurting in some way, and that's why I feel a part of it. i'm now accepting all the flaws, all the arguments etc, with open arms, because we all reach out in different ways. and i think each and everyone of us "totally rock" in some way or another =)

love,
rayna

I had similar reactions when I read the first post on this thread. It seems it's taken off in a vastly different direction from how I first interpreted it. I can also see how it can be interpreted in different ways, depending on who you perceive the target population is.

What I find terribly disappointing, however, is the tone that this thread has at times taken, and some of the posts in other threads that are loosely related to this one, at least according to some. Frankly, I would expect more respect, empathy, and tolerance for differences in values, individual strengths and weaknesses, different mental illnesses and pathology and other personal characteristics from posters on support forums. I'm saddened and stunned by what I've read recently.

Wants2fly, I think you are a very good writer. Your post certainly reflects that. And apparently it's evoked quite a response from others, which I'm sure is a writer's dream. Incidentally, I had a hard time at first how you so quickly made the leap in your reply to emmy from her use of the word "cruel" to your examples of "slave holders" and "abusers". Then I remembered the paradoxical therapy technique called "extending" and and it's counterpart in maladaptive communication, and it made much more sense to me. Have you perhaps experienced this before?

Take care everyone.

gg

Heck, any attempts at using psychology, reverse or staightforward, on a board I come to for support would feel too much like work. Who wants that on their day off?

And I really have no idea how many of those on the list you may or may not use, sorry.

Regards,
gg

Ray that is really hard that u don't feel like u can share ur problems. if you weren't lucky in chat u'd think that people would be helpful in a post. or if they're not make another message and tell them to stop talking about themselves. I'll listen

Thanks sometimes. It's really not a bad thing though, because like I said in my post, I really have learned to help myself through things, and that is something I wasn't doing before. It's nice to trust myself again. =)

Um. Is psychology ever straight?

Heavens no! There are more curves, hills, bumps, and bridges to cross on the path than any winding road you can imagine! That's what keeps us interested and awake. If it were a straight path, we'd all be asleep in minutes.

gg

and still nuts!

LOL But if we were asleep by the side of the road, we'd be stagnant. eeewwww

And in a car accident...

I guess it's the bumpy winding road for us!
gg

Watch for those potholes k?

I can't believe anyone thinks that was a good or appropriate post. No thread has ever angered me like this one.