Positive things I've learned this year.

[brent]

With all the disapointment many of us have felt, I think it's time for a lighter thread. So here are good things I've learned over the last year, or from Kerry's campaign:

1. I can be proud of being a veteran. This sounds silly, but I always was ashamed to admit that I was in the Navy before the Kerry campaign.

2. I can be a patriot. Another silly thing, as we have so many problems (an unjustified war, starving children in the streets, over 40 million uninsured citizens, voting machines that change votes, a failing economy, etc.) however, this country has a long rich history of, well forget this point for now.

3. I have gone back to my faith. 11 years ago I allowed the Republicans to tell me that I wasn't a real christian if I was gay. So I spent the 10 years after that looking for something. I even started watching Bunk Busters, a show put on by Portland area atheists. Then when I saw all the straight people that dedicated so much of their own, and the church's time, money, Love, and energy, I knew that I could proudly be a gay christian. It's the people that are unloving, and unaccepting that aren't the real christians.

This year, things may be down in most aspects, but the one thing I do have control over is my attitude. So, I'm going to try to be positive & up-beat. How about you?

[glammaman2000]

for the gay pride parade;..the presbyterians sent out volunteers with trays of water to keep marchers from getting dehydrated.the catholics put up police barricades.you got your christians,&you got your christians....

[brent]

Originally Posted by glammaman2000

...
you got your christians,&you got your christians....

Or you got your christians, & you got your CBN watching "christians", or NPACs as Glam would call them.

[Voyager]

As Dave Barry has said...those who usually want to tell you about their religious beliefs have no interest in hearing about yours. Gee, I wish I could be as perfect as some I have met...

[optimusx]

Hmm..positive things I've learned this year?

Well. I learned that, sometimes it's best not to force somethings. If you give an issue, time and effort and breathing room they tend to care for themselves. That applies to the body and life in general. Be Patient.

[wbhunk]

I've learned that the anticipation of fear and pain is always worse than the fear and pain itself ultimately turns out to be.

[brent]

Dan, great point!

[pdxflex]

Brent and Dan -- great characteristics!

I learned that the world is what you make it, and you can either a) surround yourself with negative types, or b) put yourself with positive people in positive situations. I don't mean that you should bury your head in the sand, but things happen that are beyond your control. You can, however, control how you react to them.

Brent, on a more personal note, I have found myself far more spiritual than ever, and I refuse to let the "Christian right" (or any other "right") own God. If I let them do that, then they have won. Further, if God created me, and I'm gay, then, gee, they must be saying that their God makes mistakes. I say my God is far more sophisticated.

Love reading this board, even if I don't have a chance to contribute much to it!

[ottomun6]

I have had a christian background for the better part of my life. I have wrestled with the "sinner" vs. church thing for many years. One of the most shocking things I have seen is how the basic concept of christianity (meaning Christ-like) can be twisted into almost demonic behavior. Listen to what comes out of the mouth of protestors at gay marches. (many of these people are church going christians)
Sometimes what puts things into perspective is how many people see things as black or white. Grey is not an option for them.
If being gay is such a horrific thing, (and you are supposed to choose) then how is it that there are actually hermaphrodites (people with male AND female organs) on the planet? Hmm, maybe THEY chose to do this before they were born
If it is physically possible for a person to be in the grey zone, then it would seem resonable for someone to have a built-in same sex perference.

[wbhunk]

I went through a lot of the same emotions myself when I came out, since all but two years of my education through college were in a church school environment -- if homosexuality was talked about at all, it was definitely in negative terms.

That being said, however, it was one heck of an asset -- instead of just throwing it all away, I dove back into the Bible and into theology, at first searching for a "cure".....but then realizing what I needed was honesty and understanding.

What it boiled down to was that, in every case where God "condemns" homosexuality, it's not the homosexuality he's condemning, it's the way in which it's being used. For instance, even if you assume Sodom was about homosexuality (which is debatable), it was that the mobs wanted to do a gang rape. I don't think God would have tolerated that if they'd been heterosexual, either.

In short, read and discover for yourself.....don't let someone tell you that God hates you because you're gay.

[Notbigenuff]

Originally Posted by wbhunk

In short, read and discover for yourself.....don't let someone tell you that God hates you because you're gay.

Amen brother! In fact, concerning all these so-called "marriage amendments" and such. It's my opinion that all churches should support anyone who is willing to commit to a long-term monogamous (sp?) relationship.

[brent]

Churches are organizations, created by man. If they condemn one of god's creations, or a whole class, like with homosexuals, then IMO they don't represent a loving God. Which makes you wonder what side they do represent? I remember learning that, "God is Love" in church. So the lack of Love in the case of these 'christians' means that they, and their amendments also lack God.

In my recent fall, I should have been killed, or paralyzed. I feel that God's Love, and the perfection of my design minimized the damage. I'll attach a couple pics of the damage, but it should have been far worse.

Brent.

[jcnutt]

I agree completely...

on a side note, how much damage did you mass do to what stopped your fall?
Glad you are ok and I am sure whatever you hit is in much worse shape...

[brent]

the rest of me just has minor scrapes & bruising. Maybe having some muscle helped with that.

Nasty looking head wound there. Feelin' woozy still?

On the church subject. I could write pages on my disdain for what christianity has devolved into, but for the moment let's just say that I believe there is a vast difference between spirituality and christianity. Jesus, if he were here, would run most of them out of the temple again. It's time for mankind to give up the concept of an anthropomorphised god. Promote wisdom, not worship.

Knowlege is not wisdom. Knowlege without wisdom is chaos.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Definition: "Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to inantimate objects, animals, forces of nature and others." -- freedictionary.com

[ottomun6]

Oh Man Brent!
What the heck is a guy your size doing up on a flimzy ladder?!? You could have put a sizeable dent in Las Vegas! (not to mention causing a small earthquake)
Next time get a skinny runt and put him/her up there, we don't want to see that Big Bruiser body of yours get messed up.
Seriously, I'm glad to hear you are ok. That head pic dosen't look too pretty, I hope you were able to talk to a decent doctor.

On the religious subject, I think the whole purpose of life boils down to using a decent amount of wisdom, respect and treating others as you wish to be treated.

[brent]

Originally Posted by ottomun6

...
On the religious subject, I think the whole purpose of life boils down to using a decent amount of wisdom, respect and treating others as you wish to be treated.

I agree, I always live by the golden Rule.

I will be more careful in the future. I will always use a proper A-frame ladder in the future. I'm glad that it was me up there, and not someone that was weaker in mind, body, and spirit: I probably bounced better! And don't worry about the earthquake thing, Las Vegas doesn't get earthquakes! So no worries, it isn't possible, which is a huge relief after living on the west coast for most of my life! No worries, I'm almost better, and I've stopped taking the Vicadin?. It's nasty crap anyways, and I really don't feel pain.

As for the doctor, I was required to go through that. Although I'm glad he put a dozen skull staples in my head, they really did bother with a bunch of useless crap, like a Cat-scan. Not only did I not see the cat, but I could have told them I was fine, after all, I was designed by God to be perfect. How could perfection have a fracture, or a concussion? They wouldn't listen to me, and made me promise to take the antibiotics, so I'll finish them, but I never promised anything about the pain pills, so they're headed for the toilette!

As I say, whatever doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger. So when I'm cleared to workout again, I have my mind set on growing into one of Atomic's morphs... So in the mean time, I'm going to rest, heal, and plot my return to fierceness!!

- Zipper Head.

[glammaman2000]

i've never heard Liz sing,but i can't imagine it's pretty.&the Vicatin may have hit you harder because your system is so clean.once the antibiotics are over;try working some active culture yoghurt into your diet for a while.it'll help restore the positive bacteria in your intestines.you'll be chomping at the bit to get back in the gym!heal.g.

[optimusx]

Yowza that looks bad Brent (head shot). Take it easy and rest. I'm surprised you didn't break anything else (other than yourself) on the way down...

[brent]

Glam, Liz is great, but while up in Vicadin? Land, one must avoid Rush Limbaugh at all costs. Apparently he has no friends (big surprise) and a drug habit that has him up there all the time. As for chomping at the bit to get back, let's just say that I stopped the Vicadin, so so I could get back to work tomorrow. I will have lots of yogurt & kieffer (the drink, not the talentless actor) to build the friendly flora. I'm a little more concerned about the amount of blood lost. I guess my vitals were good enough that I didn't need a transfusion, but it certainly looked like a LOT of red acrylic paint on the floor (think low budget movie.)

Scot, of course I didn't break anything else on my way down: I'm the one that engineered the back-room to take anything and survive. A little mopping, and it was back in action.

[ethernet_jock]

Man - you ARE lucky... from the other post remark about your fall I didn't realize it had been THAT bad as far as your head goes.

They don't call me "crash ott" for nothing... I can identify. I don't think I've ever lost that much blood but I've done the ladder thing, the full flight of staircase thing, and more auto wrecks than I care to remember along with several other misc. things that should have killed me. Somehow I always end up with just some muscle/tissue damage and/or some bruises.... almost never a broken bone or anything really serious *knocks on wood*. I'm fairly familiar with the CAT machine... it sucks.

Good luck in your recovery! I'm certain that a body as perfect as yours will beat all odds at a quick and super successful recovery process!

[wbhunk]

EJ, you are a reminder of that ancient Chinese curse....may you always live in interesting times. (grin) There was a cheesy Disney movie a few years back called "I-Man" about a guy who was exposed to a strange gas and developed superfast healing power....were you the inspiration?

[brent]

It's my opinion that a positive attitude, and a healthy dose of good humor aids recovery immensely. The lady that took out my stitches & staples today kept commenting that she was amazed I was able to walk on my own right afterwards.

[ethernet_jock]

Originally Posted by brent

It's my opinion that a positive attitude, and a healthy dose of good humor aids recovery immensely. The lady that took out my stitches & staples today kept commenting that she was amazed I was able to walk on my own right afterwards.

I couldn't agree more!! Attitude is at least 50% of healing.... seriously. It's amazing.

When I've just gotten out of a car wreck and I'm not seriously injured I don't stand around thinking about how sorry I feel for myself, how much this is going to hurt tomorrow (it always hurts more tomorrow - incidentally), or how upset I am. Instead I think about how cool my car will look with a new paint job or about telling my friends at work tomorrow about my next wreck.

It's all attitude really, isn't it?

wb - LOL.... I wonder sometimes. I do tend to heal very quickly from scrapes, bruises, etc... Not like ABNORMALLY quickly, but a lot faster than my wife and other people I know. I think it's probably just my extra padding and thick bones... but who knows.

[wbhunk]

Well, EJ, as my opa (great-grandfather) always put it.....when handed a barn full of manure, you can either complain about the smell or dig through it to find a pony. (grin)

I tend to spend more time looking for the pony......

[brent]

Originally Posted by wbhunk

...

I tend to spend more time looking for the pony......

And what do you plan to do with that pony?

Seriously, I do tend to heal quickly. I just wish the scar was going to be somewhere visible, instead of on my head where it'll be covered with hair! All the hotties comment on the cool scars!

[Mdlftr]

Whoa, Brent!
Some injury pix there, buddy!
You are lucky you didn't have more serious results from your fall!
That head wound looks nasty, but then, they always do! Because of the rich blood supply to your scalp, they bleed like crazy! They don't necessarily hurt as much as deep bruises (like the one on your thigh) do, however!

I once almost took off the top of my scalp on an escalator (don't ask). I had blood pouring down my face, and the security guards at the place were more interested in having me fill out an accident report! After I learned that the on-site nurse had already left for the day, I got up and got a cab and got myself to the ER.

The guy in the ER was great as he was stitching me up--joking around about my "Heidelburg dueling scar" I was going to have.

So, think of it this way--you now have a great topic of conversation, "Hey buddy, wanna come and see my 'dueling scar'?!" Gets 'em every time!

Best of luck on your recovery! You're looking seriously big 'n built!

Mdlftr

[brent]

Originally Posted by Mdlftr

...
I once almost took off the top of my scalp on an escalator (don't ask).
...

OK, I won't ask, but I am curious! I found out first hand that yes scalp injuries bleed like crazy. I don't really feel pain too much, so none of them hurt bad. I just wanted to get some gory pics a la Female Trouble.

BTW, thank you for the big 'n built comment. It's tough not being able to lift, but my return to the gym is less than a week away!

[wbhunk]

Why, ride it, of course! (evil grin)

And I have the perfect solution for the scar.....shave your head. I'm planning to do that in a few months as soon as I get acclimated to my new position......and gain a few more lbs.....