We all got something in us that makes us move on to the next day. Sometimes it's something simple like just not wanting to die, and other times it could be the desire for something greater in ourselves.

What I want to ask is this:

What drives you?

What gives you hope?

What would you cling to in your greatest time of darkness?

What is it that makes you tell despair to find the biggest vibrater it can and then proceed to tell it to go screw itself?

3754965 What drives me? My desire to make a pot of tea in the morning, and make me some steak and eggs. Then I eat and drink my food at the computer and do fuck all... I guess food is what keeps me going, eh.

3754973 Food is awesome, though.

And so is steak and eggs...

And now I want some...

3754975 My husbando hoards a shit ton of steaks and other assortments of red meats in the freezer, and we have a shit ton of eggs... I guess he loves eating that stuff too, and soon steak and eggs became my breakfast along with some fried patates and tea, eh.

3754965
2 very old sayings:
- This too shall pass.
- The only thing you ever have control over is how you react.

Life in general is a roll of the dice. How wealthy were your parents, where did you grow up, what kind of education was available because of those two things, what race, what gender, etc. etc. etc.

That's outside of your control, and while being hamstringed on a few of those compared to what makes life easier for others is annoying, there's more than one way to be happy with your life. Figure out what your "win condition" is and play the game according to your own rules. You don't have to be successful in anyone's eyes but your own. And when things seem their darkest, every time it passes. As it does with the good times too. Just wait it out, keep going, and tell despair to find it's own damn vibrator because I'm busy with that one.

3754987

Just wait it out, keep going, and tell despair to find it's own damn vibrator because I'm busy with that one.

Huh. Glad to see that metaphor is catching on.

3754965 What drives me...is the challenge to put a smile on someone's face. And I totally used that line in a job interview for the job I have now. The foundation for my joy is that I'm a Christian and want to share Christ's love to everyone. While I'm in school for Vet Tech, I work at a convenience store (gas station) and we are always busy. I work during the afternoon when people are coming home from work, so they are always in the need of a smile or someone to lift their spirits. At 14 00, their job ends and mine begins.

Always find the bright side to everything!

3754965 Honestly, what drives me? I guess would be those around me, to strive to be better than society's expectations of me. And just to basically see where I go from here. Though I do plan on going into the service....

3754992
I had a variety of jokes planned for this opening line, but each one was even worse than the one before it. So we'll skip that part.

The other thing is this weird hobby I have. I collect stories. For some reason I keep finding myself in situations where random encounters with people I've never met met before turn into them sharing everything about themselves. Someone once told me I should be a bartender because of that. I thought about actually writing a book compiling them once, but lost my notes in a move unfortunately. So, I stopped writing them down, I just enjoyed them for the time they stayed with me and let them pass.

A fast food worker's struggle with suicide attempts, a gas station clerk who needed to talk about the 10 year fight they'd been having with their brother and decided afterwards to give them a call and try to patch things up, the vietnam vet sharing the long story of the hardships he and his men endured as engineers trying to keep communication lines working as the enemy kept cutting the lines and sniping anyone who went to fix them... and many more that I've lost to the static of time. It really just gives me perspective. No one has this life thing figured out, so why should I expect that I would? We all go through it. We all make our choices.

3755004 Same. I'm going to be a school councilor for the reason of helping the lost kids in schools and there are ALWAYS lost kids in schools.

3755023

My failures drive me more because I guess their the reason I move forward. They've gotten to be my best friends, in a weird way, because they taught me the most about what I should and shouldn't do. They protect me from my mistakes because, after everything that I messed up, from my little sister to my own lack of ambition...

My failures are the thing to keep me moving because if I can guide people from that path, then me and my failures must have turned out alright.

3754965
My boyfriend.

I also found giving strangers (including those in fast food and retail) a smile tends to make their day bearable as well.

3754965

Friends and loved ones (I don't mean family, not blood-related anyway).

Plus a few people who've managed to jump in every time I tried to stop going.

3755074 well you know what they say...

The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb

3755074
This too.

3754965
I don't know.

3755074 Ah yes, ditto on that. I guess it always feels so obvious that I leave it off things like this, but some people don't have that.

3754965 It's extremely cheesy but my friends and family are what drive me. I'm not scared of death, I'm scared of who I'll leave behind. Personally, I believe that you cannot truly live without one good friend.

3754965

What drives you?

If things are not optimal then action is required to bring about the desired change. I either find my current situation satisfactory or go on a crusade to change it. There's no in between.

What gives you hope?

Hope is a lie. It keeps you from seeing things as they are. I want none of it.

What would you cling to in your greatest time of darkness?

Being alive is a privilege, not a given right. I have defined minimal requirements for live to be acceptable. Up to that point, I can take any darkness head on. I've never come even close to minimal requirements, and don't expect to.

What is it that makes you tell despair to find the biggest vibrater it can and then proceed to tell it to go screw itself?

Despair is acceptable. At least it beats apathy. I don't tell it to fuck off. Instead, I give it a hug.

3755233

Hope is a lie. It keeps you from seeing things as they are. I want none of it.

Hope is greed with a softer spin. It's nothing without the will to back it up, but it is more than just an illusion.

Despair is acceptable. At least it beats apathy. I don't tell it to fuck off. Instead, I give it a hug.

Despair weakens you. It takes your eyes of the prize.

3754965
What drives me is quintipartite.
The knowledge of God's sacrifice of Christ for us thrice-damned blessed-beyond-belief humans.
The love of a solid and strong family foundation.
The reality of my current situation and hope of better days beyond (there is no separation to me).
The heartwarming smiles on the face of other people.
And the urge to create, create, create!

3754965 My family, friends, dog, God, and my friends and acquaintances I've made here.