What is important to you?

What is important in life? In working to overcome my own personal nihilism, I have discovered people and my relationships to be the most important things in my life. Right now, I am working to realign my priorities in life to better reflect my commitment to and love of others. One thing I will be doing is changing jobs.

So, what is important to you? Does your life reflect that? Where are your energies going? Are you really pursuing what really matters most to you?

Life is so very short...

The most important thing in my life has always been my family. My husband and I have worked very hard to give our children a happy, healthy, stable environment to live and grow in. Two of them are adults now and the hardest thing is giving them the freedom to move on.

I agree with you AAAAA. My family are THE most important precious people in my life ... next to that, healing and becoming a better person so i can follow my dream of becoming a councellor myself and move on to help others who have been through trauma in their lives .....

Jin xoxoxoxoxoxo

I want to be independent.

I want to raise my child to be ready to leave home and manage his own life.

I want to change the world; I want to teach again, write books and journal articles, perhaps work in the clinical area as a critical care nurse part-time.

I want to reduce my household clutter so people can visit me.

I want to be independent.

I want to raise my child to be ready to leave home and manage his own life.

I want to change the world; I want to teach again, write books and journal articles, perhaps work in the clinical area as a critical care nurse part-time.

I want to reduce my household clutter so people can visit me.

I am fairly independent but have been hiring people to cut the lawn and help clean the house. I have obtained the materials I need to recertify so I can teach ACLS again but I have been procrastinating about reading the book. I am doing the best I know how raising my son but he is not motivated so that is making it difficult. I want my son to have a summer job (he is 19) but he doesn't want one and has been procrastinating his job search.

I like all the responses people have given here. A counselor once asked me that question, shortly after I divorced my husband of 20+ years. It had been an unhappy marriage in which I stayed in order to raise our daughter in a nice home. I answered the counsellor then, "The ability to take care of myself." That is still true today.
I worked very hard to gain this independence.
Yes, family is important, but both my parents have passed away, and my daugther is grown and has her own family, living far away from me, though we visit when we can. My few true friends are constant and abiding to me, and I value that also, but my one priority is still being able to provide for myself financially, and maintain positive mental health.
Patty

Everyone has great answers to this question, I want to be a good mother and wife and especially a good person in generally. Those are the things that I work towards everyday.

I want to be the best person I can be, to those around me, those in my life, and to my God.
Life is short, and with the prophecies I believe, could very possibly change drastically by 2012.
What I found by foreshortening my vision to this time-period, is that though I had focus on doing
only those things that are truly valuable, I need to continue to eliminate those elements of my
life that don't direct me to the ultimate goal.

I still need to toss extra baggage I've picked up along the way.

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_Sky said:
I want to be the best person I can be, to those around me, those in my life, and to my God.
Life is short, and with the prophecies I believe, could very possibly change drastically by 2012.
What I found by foreshortening my vision to this time-period, is that though I had focus on doing
only those things that are truly valuable, I need to continue to eliminate those elements of my
life that don't direct me to the ultimate goal.

I still need to toss extra baggage I've picked up along the way.

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good post Sky.. has been on my mind some time also... pulling together now is really important.. if i can lend a hand, i need to... by helping others, the life i save might be my own...

there is one shadow.. i pray all humanity will see the small window of time before us and enter gracefully into the new era with the least amount of fighting... i hope all will recognize the essential importance of connectedness and kindness to others during the coming struggles ahead

Well, family is always the most important or should be I would think, for anyone. My animals are included in my family as well. As far as things that are a priority for me right now, I would say getting control of my OCD is paramount. I have dealt with it for about a dozen years, I work everyday and live normally otherwise. But it's always there. I am tired from it.... I have tried zoloft, paxil, lexapro, and prozac, all to no avail. Anyone have any other ideas out there? I could certainly use some good advice on it... Thx

Well, family is always the most important or should be I would think, for anyone. My animals are included in my family as well. As far as things that are a priority for me right now, I would say getting control of my OCD is paramount. I have dealt with it for about a dozen years, I work everyday and live normally otherwise. But it's always there. I am tired from it.... I have tried zoloft, paxil, lexapro, and prozac, all to no avail. Anyone have any other ideas out there? I could certainly use some good advice on it... Thx

Honesty, truth, love, caring. kindness to all........

the power to know we can all make each others lifes better....
irl and here at pc.....

my children.....no one harms them

My friends irl.. back home and here on pc..............

the enviroment has always meant alot to me........

i think most of all that ppl know that
they really do matter

and for everyone to know god loves each and every one of us
muffy

OT... johncomputerwhiz, feed your brain...fishoil/omega 3 deficiencies can cause depression too.

I'm still largely trying to figure this question out. Music is very important to me, and getting back into it is a priority. The environment is very much a concern / priority to me. Building and maintaining friendships is important, although I need some skills development in that area. But I guess what's most important to me right now is learning to like / value myself.

--splitimage

My family.
My friends- the ones who stick with me through thick and thin, the ones I would trust with almost everything.
My beliefs.
Nature, which ties in with my beliefs.
My country.

Fort depressme..

I'm curious!! I've also switched jobd to better reflect the growth deep inside me- from working in an abusive environment to a place that will pick up the tab for me to go to nursing school...you are great to fight nihilism...are YOU really pursuing what matters to YOU? I am so curious you went from what job to what new job?

Depresme - at first blush i was both confused and in agreement with you for myself that this was something i also am working on. BUt still being confused I went and looked it up:

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ni·hil·ism Audio Help /ˈnaɪəˌlɪzəm, ˈni-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[nahy-uh-liz-uhm, nee-] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. total rejection of established laws and institutions.
2. anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity.
3. total and absolute destructiveness, esp. toward the world at large and including oneself: the power-mad nihilism that marked Hitler's last years.
4. Philosophy. a. an extreme form of skepticism: the denial of all real existence or the possibility of an objective basis for truth.
b. nothingness or nonexistence.

5. (sometimes initial capital letter) the principles of a Russian revolutionary group, active in the latter half of the 19th century, holding that existing social and political institutions must be destroyed in order to clear the way for a new state of society and employing extreme measures, including terrorism and assassination.
6. annihilation of the self, or the individual consciousness, esp. as an aspect of mystical experience.

Looking at that, do you think it is the right word for you? It seems so very strong. For me, my therapist is using the term "vagueness" because i have no purpose, no vision, goals, no caring about anything - kind of let the tide push me wherever.

SO, it is still important for me to figure out what is meaningful to me. and yet, it couldn't be a more difficult assignment since what i think changes with each hour, each day. For example, right now i am really irritable and argumentative and looking for fights. I really need to be writing a grad paper, but I could care less. It's due in 6 hours.
RIght now i don't care much about my family. I "hate" them all. TOmorrow that will change. I care about justice, my friends, my cat.... that may be all right now.
usually i care about art, music, school. doing well in therapy. i need to be caring about myself and stop harming myself.

i should stop while i'm ahead....

Junerain, I have been working in medical education, but I am interviewing for a new job as an addictions counselor working with teens.

Kiya, when I use the term nihilism I refer to my own extreme skepticism in a truth or meaning in life. Overcoming it means creating a worthwile purpose for me. A purpose I can dedicate my life to--something that is worthwhile--a reason to even exist.

What a great thread to start!

I think it is very important to be kind and charitable. Even those in the worst of times always have something to give, and being kind is free, too!

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DePressMe said:
Kiya, when I use the term nihilism I refer to my own extreme skepticism in a truth or meaning in life. Overcoming it means creating a worthwile purpose for me. A purpose I can dedicate my life to--something that is worthwhile--a reason to even exist.

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oooooh i hear ya. best to you!

I posted an opinion on iThink on Myspace...and less than 50% of people agreed that family was the most important thing....makes me ashamed that someone can think that way...

I usually find the most important things in life to be things that not many people in this century can relate to lol. Definitely at the top of my list is family, which includes animals.

Other things of importance to me is a food, clothing, and shelter...and religion. To me everything else can wait....once I've got all those covered then I'll go onto less important things.

is cable television a good answer?

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TaintedGoth1 said:
I posted an opinion on iThink on Myspace...and less than 50% of people agreed that family was the most important thing....makes me ashamed that someone can think that way...

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maybe if my family had acted the way families are *supposed* to, I might not hate them. Personally, they can rot in hell for all i care. They deserve it for the things they did to me and a lot of other people. I don't have kids or a significant other, and i have disowned 2/3rds of my "family" so all that is left to me is my cat and my fish. And my best friends.

So that is what is important to me - my animals and my friends.

Great thread ...

My priorities are my tiny family, recovering my health, my friends, my ever-changing educational pursuits (right now, it's hydrolats, specifically hydrosols for aromatherapists), the environment, my community, the nation, and a peaceful world .... for every man, woman and child in it ... and the creatures too!

peace and love,
nightbird <font color="#008800"> </font>