Today's a new day - Write your own destiny!

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Diggo McDiggity
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Today's a new day - Write your own destiny!

What were your first thoughts this morning as you awoke? It's ok, you can tell me. Hmm... Ok then, how about just whispering them to me, I won't tell anyone. ... No eh? Well that's ok, just consider them yourself then.

One thing hopefully you've realized by now is that those first pondered thoughts in the morning will often determine the 'tone' of the whole day. If we awake with negative thoughts about things going on in our life at the present, there's a good chance our day will be less than cheerful. If we awake thinking about the progress and achievements in our lives, then we may just have a fantastic day full of memories and even greater achievements. And if we think of neither our failures nor our successes, then our day will be just another day, without color or meaning, which we will just lose without having had the opportunity to really live it.

The point of this is that we make the decision, whether consciously or unconsciously as to how our day will be and what we will accomplish, all within those first few minutes or hours after rising. You might not always have a choice of what to do that day, but you do have a choice of how you will react to the things you experience that day.

Here is a short Zen story for you:

"The monk Shi Ching approached the Master and said:

"Master, my fellow monks and I have prepared your new garden, but we would like to see if it meets with your approval."

The Master pondered for a moment and replied, "It is just fine
Shi Ching." Shi Ching then asked, "But Master, you have not even seen it, how can you know whether or not it is suitable for you?"

The Master replied, "When I woke this morning, I knew I had a decision to make, as to whether or not the garden would please me. I have decided that I am pleased. Seeing it or not at this point, makes no difference."

My point with this story is simply to illustrate that on any given day, we may ponder our life and think about the things that have gone wrong, or that our life is not where we would like it, or that we are sad or upset all the time, or that we are addicted to a computer game that we cannot escape from.

But what you do from that point is up to you.

With regard to an online computer game, the path to freedom from its embrace may not seem clear when you first decide to quit playing. But the first step of this path is to wake up one day and decide that it's time to create change in your life, and that it's time to reclaim the happiness, once abundant, and which now eludes you, and it's time to clear the weeds from your garden of life goals and strive to live this day with freedom and clarity.

This path to freedom and clarity begins with first pondering your life, past and present, and by then trying to discover just what it is that gives you passion. For life is not a destination, but a journey, and each new day brings with it new opportunities to make these discoveries and fill your life with meaning and purpose.

You are the author of your destiny, and within the first few minutes or even hours of your morning on any given day, you decide how that day's chapter will be written.

Will you accept a past of defeat and shortcomings and write the day's chapter just like the previous ones? Or have you written this same chapter so many times that you have convinced yourself that the plot cannot change, or perhaps worse, that you have become terrified of writing it any differently?

Or will you dare to be different and to risk failure...or even to risk greatness by writing a chapter full of new experiences and challenges, knowing that this book of your life has a limited number of pages and eventually will end? If the latter, then you are fortunate for having realized that only by taking this risk can you grow as an individual, and that this collection of chapters which makes up your life will determine whether your story is ultimately a tragedy, or an inspiring tale of adventure.

The choice and the power really is yours.

So having read this...whether it is morning...or afternoon or evening...review the past chapters of your life which you have written so far. It is true that these chapters are written and complete and cannot be changed.

But then, flip ahead through the blank pages which make up your future life, and realize that those chapters are not yet written, and that each day when you wake up and ponder the day ahead, that you really are the writer of your own destiny, and the master of how that day's chapter will be written.

Once again, life is not a destination...it truly is a journey, and you, just as the Master, make the decision each day as to whether or not the day will please you, and what things, if any, that you will accomplish.

So pick up that pen, and open the journal that is your life. And now tell me, how will you choose to write today's chapter?

Ron

Ron Jaffe AKA Diggo McDiggity
eMail: eqaddict@cfl.rr.com
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Addicted to Everquest from July, 1999 to April, 2002
Over 4,900 Hours Played

Edited by: Diggo McDiggity at: 12/1/02 10:08:18 am

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lizwool
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Re: Today's a new day - Write your own destiny!

Today, I went and visited my family. My brother and his daughter came down from up North. I have only seen them once in about two years.

Our whole family and spouses and children went to Church, together, and than we all went out to brunch, and than we went to my brothers house to visit for a bit.

It was nice to see everyone, again....

Now I am visiting this board, and checking my e-mail.

I will than get ready for work (where I go, at 1:30 a.m.)

(Also, I painted a white stripe on each of my outside steps, so people won't fall down them, when they leave.)

Liz Woolley

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Re: Today's a new day - Write your own destiny!

Well, since quitting EQ, the causes and conditions behind my playing have been revealed to me, and I'm now facing a crisis and turning point in my life. I need to make some very important decisions in my life that affect not only me, but the lives of others, and really I don't think I can make them without spiritual guidance and without being in fit spiritual condition. So, tonight I will be meeting with my spiritual advisor. It is my hope that the decisions that I eventually make will be the right ones, even though they may not be what I want.

Aryianna

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Re: Today's a new day - Write your own destiny!

Saturday: I'm spending most of the day with my girlfriend. I'm going to try to relax, enjoy my limited time with her (I only see her on weekends), and may be cook something together.

This is the only day of the week I get to truly take a break from stressing over employment, money, and my business plans.

If you're playing an on-line game, take a break today. Just relax, hang out with r/l friends, may be watch a couple shows on TV, or even read a book. Whatever gets you away from the game will help bring sanity to your mind and peace to your soul.

Have a great weekend everyone!

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Stalkinghorse
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My weekend

I work 40 hours a week. By the time I get home every day it's homework/dinner time at my house. I have great woman and together we have 3 kids, going from kindergarten to 3rd grade. I also have not 1, not 2 but 4 EQ accounts and 4 PCs. Together we lead a fairly casual, mid-sized guild that is made up of most of our RL friends and a few good people we've picked up through playing. EQ events, guild or no, happen for us after the kids have been sent to bed.

When I get up in the morning my first thought is always, without exception, "Dammit. I don't want to leave this woman or my warm bed to go to work." It never fails. Sometimes I think it even on weekends, but at least it's past 6:30am when I think it on Saturday.

This past weekend my girlfriend and I went out together and did some Christmas shopping (/cheer babysitter). We had a great lunch and we were both exhausted by the time we'd returned from the wasteland of humanity that is the mall. When we got home the kids asked to watch a movie (Scooby Doo again) and we continued our time together in our room watching some television and relaxing (we collapsed on the bed and fell asleep). The kids were asleep by the time the movie was over and we were awake and refreshed by the nap. We spent the rest of the night (probably 9pm on) playing EQ together.

Sunday, we all went out, bought some new Christmas decorations and spent the afternoon decorating the house and cleaning a few things that needed cleaning.
The kids built a snow fort and had some fun burying each other in it. After the activities of the day, we spent our time until we went to bed playing EQ together (in bed by 11pm).

I'm writing this only to describe what to me is my life as it stands right now. I think that the two of us have found that we can balance game time and family time fairly easily. In fact I feel it's more of a habit than anything else.

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Re: My weekend

The Master replied, "When I woke this morning, I knew I had a decision to make, as to whether or not the garden would please me. I have decided that I am pleased. Seeing it or not at this point, makes no difference."

There are far too few people who are able to live up to the example of this story. In my opinion, this is a great paradigm and one I personally strive to attain every day.

But there is a a fundamental error in the rest of your post. You continue to blame gaming for costing people "the happiness, once abundant, and which now eludes you". People who become "addicted" to gaming didn't have that happiness to begin with. They were simply obsessed with something else and switched to gaming.

In another post, it was claimed that the theme of this site was not to blame gaming, but this post clearly states that gaming is the problem.

Diggo McDiggity
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Re: My weekend

Quote:People who become "addicted" to gaming didn't have that happiness to begin with. They were simply obsessed with something else and switched to gaming.Perhaps some, but certainly not all. I know a number of people whose lives have spiraled downward once they started playing. Not everyone, but a good number. Quote:In another post, it was claimed that the theme of this site was not to blame gaming, but this post clearly states that gaming is the problem. Not at all. I've never said that the game is the problem. It is the person's excessive and obsessive PLAYING of the game that is the problem. And as you've mentioned several times which I've agreed with, that stems from other problems in the person's life.

Ron

Edited by: lizwool at: 10/28/05 10:51

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Diggo McDiggity
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Re: Today's a new day - Write your own destiny!

/bump

Ron Jaffe AKA Diggo McDiggity
Discussion Board Administrator
Everquest player from July, 1999 to April, 2002
Over 4,900 Hours Played

Co-Founder of OLGA and member since 2002

bgh
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To the moon!

"We will go to the moon, not because it is easy, but because it is hard."

With those words, John F. Kennedy started the 'space race' that culminated in Neil Armstrong's "Giant leap for mankind."

That moment in time captured the imagination of a generation, and apart from giving us wonderful creations like Tang, space exploration uplifts the spirits of those of us who gaze at the miracle of the heavens in the night sky.

The wonders of the universe, little remote controlled vehicles drawing soil samples on the surface of Mars. Will they discover water? Signs of life beyond our world? We wait with anticipation of a big discovery that will define our generation's hopes and dreams.

But space exploration has never been easy. Star Trek gives us false ideas of quick-and-easy travel beyond lightspeed, an utter impossibility according to astrophysicists. The brave men who pioneered space travel and journeyed "From the earth to the moon" did not have an easy time.

John Glenn described the close quarters of his space capsule in these words: "You don't get into it, you put it on."

The trip from Earth to our moon is measured in hundreds of thousands of miles, days of cramped conditions, high velocity space travel, awful food and mortal danger.

The journey from addiction to recovery often presents to us as a vast expanse of cold, empty space, devoid of warmth, joy and peace. We take this journey, intentionally, not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

Confronting our darkest secrets, confessing our transgressions and resolving to draw near to God (as we understand Him) is painful. We may feel like John Glenn, stuffed into a tight capsule and shot into that black void.

But then we take a step of faith into the fullness of life God intends for us. We embrace our loved ones in a new, fresh way. We breathe the fresh air of our freedom, and wonder why we ever remained on earth contemplating the heavens, when we can walk the surface of a brave new world.

Take heart dear friends, sorrow may endure for a night time, but joy comes in the morning.

With three days of painful, blessed liberation under my belt, wishing you every blessing,

BGH aka Alphaboy

www.livejournal.com/users/alphaboy

The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions.
-Alfred Lord Tennyson
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lizwool
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RE: Three days!

Hi Brad,

Congratulations! We all started at the same place!

Take it one day at a time. You only have today!

Thank you for the update. I look forward to hearing more from you!

Keep coming back!

Work the program and it will work for you!

Liz

Liz Woolley

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Re: Today's a new day - Write your own destiny!

I just got in touch with my dad he really wants to see me and my kids more. I wanted to sign my account back up on eq but i wont. i think ill take up reading to keep my mind distracted. I can quit eq i know i can.......

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