[Maguru]

Originally Posted by Angela

You want real examples of emotional suffering, as opposed to authentic pain? Let's see: one day I got mugged by some guys. It hurt! The next day, the authentic pain was gone, but my boyfriend suggested that it happened because of the way I was dressed, and the emotional suffering started to set in. I had all kinds of stories about how wrong he was for saying that, and how wrong men were for perpetrating violence against me, and how this and that .... but none of it was authentic pain. It was all pain that I was keeping alive by feeding myself stories. Talk about bull! And of course, when I stopped feeding myself the bull, the pain *poof!* disappeared.

Your boyfriends opinions had nothing to do with your experience. Was there no effects at all from the mugging itself?

I'm sorry, but I thought YOU believed that. You don't? I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. Do you believe that suffering is NOT necessary, that it can be avoided, and that maybe it's undesirable?

You could not have misunderstood me, Angela because I never said that. It was your perception. However, denial of suffering by any means will change nothing.

There's a lot to learn from stories, but they don't determine how we feel -- WE do.

NO, what we do determines how we feel. It is a cycle that needs to change.

You delight me! Don't you know that? I will make it a point to say so more often. Delight is an emotion! One of my favorites, as a matter of fact.

Well it certainly wasn't my intention.

I don't feel emotionally disconnected, but I guess I am emotionally disconnected from what you say and think -- nothing you say or do upsets me, I mean. Would you prefer me to get upset?

You certainly are disconnected from what I say and think and especially from how I feel. Your feeling of delight couldn't be further than the truth. Where are you Angela? It reminds me of the roman emperor Nero who played the fiddle while Rome burned.

You know he wasn't an idiot. He was simply terrifed.