Threads/posts that changed you

[The Cloud]

In a fit of nostalgia, I've been looking back on things written by both myself and others that made or indicated important changes in my life. I'd like to start a thread that lists both both posts made by others that have changed our lives, and posts made by ourselves that indicate times that our lives changed. Sort of a "Best of" thread. Try to keep it limited at three posts of each type.

Made by others:

Sacrifice is the Deadliest Action
This thread changed the way I looked at difficult relationships, like the one with my parents. On a forum where the usual advice is to collect good people and dump the bad ones, this thread provided the basis for a far more compassionate and realistic way for me to deal with people that aren't always perfect.

This post was really just Angela pointing out my own stupidity. Often, the best way I learn from others is to have people throw my own words back at me. This post was the first that really got me thinking about what it meant to hurt others, what kind of pain is worth acknowledging, and whether suffering is a different thing between people.

Made by myself:

The Answer
While not complete, the statements I made in this thread were a beginning for me. It was when I realized how my best efforts had been turned against me and how I was an active participant in my own self-destruction. It truly was the answer I needed to build on, without which I could have gone nowhere.

You're supposed to be unhappy
This thread was exactly the over-the-top negativity I needed at the time. I needed a place and a means of expressing a side of myself that I had denied, without having to apologize or damn myself for it. It was a step toward becoming a whole person, rather than two sides divided against each other.

Thoughts about Thoughts are not Awareness
This really was just a minor realization, but a very necessary one. It was a time when I learned that I couldn't use the wrong means to get the right results, a common theme in my life.

[IamScotti]

thanks ima check this out