Life is about compromise. The things you are unwilling to give up are the things that rule your life. What are the things you're not willing to give up?

-- Jean Pierre Beeks (jp@musiconroute.com), November 10, 2000

Answers

Life.

-- Mark Zorro (zorromark@consultant.com), November 11, 2000.

Jean Pierre I gave a one-word answer before which is sufficient to be evocative but isnBt attached with my own perspective and that perspective of course is what I think life is.

I believe that my life is eternal. Is there death, yes. Does one die, no. From my perspective of life, death is what dies around you. I have decided that death has two forms. One which others can see for they can clearly see life pass, the other is what you can view. If I am the one viewing the moment of my death, I am not seeing myself die but everything around that I had known to that point die. I definitely will say goodbye to my identity, while I believe that my life is eternal, Mark Zorro will of course have died. Death in my opinion is in the identity but life is an identity that lives.

In having said that my life is eternal, I am not saying that body and mind are eternal. Obviously these are also included in the sum of thing that we are all going to lose and with death, we will also lose memory. We donBt take the time out to view our life from many different angles, so we end up calling it a compromise. Yes there is an either/or in life but there is also an AND. It is the AND we often forget.

We also place too much reliance on time itself. There will be a time when we lose everything around us except ourselves which is the internal view I mentioned above, but lets say we lived on Earth for eternity. This is a horrific thought for even the Sun is going to ignite the Earth as it expands into a red star, and it is going to swallow every planet as it eventually dies and becomes a black hole. Why would anyone want our present existence to live forever when the structures of the Universe donBt live forever, could you imagine a life that was based on outliving those structures, that is a much more worse thought than the idea of death.

By deeming life as a compromise, we discount off the myriad of possibilities where our life is going to take us. I may never remember writing this note to you, or even remember who I was during the breathing and heart beating portion of my life B but in the present moment I can do these things, I do know that I am writing to Jean Pierre, I do know that the identity I am framing here is of Mark Zorro. So what am I not willing to give up right now, in this moment, what else is there other than this particular Life.

I am not willing to give up my life, having accepted that life is the identity I am today. That identity will be taken away from me when death comes, I will not be the one who decides to take it away for that would be suicide and if life is eternal, suicide is stupidity.

Our Earth life therefore should be lived fully and in a manner that is most meaningful to us even if we believe it to be a compromise.

M.

"To be or not to be that is the question" A quote by Willy Shakes. M Profile at: http://www.fastcompany.com/fasttalk/replypost.html? p=9738

Mantra of M:"Life is about Private Relations not Public Relations"

-- Mark Zorro (zorromark@consultant.com), November 12, 2000.

Great question. I'm generally not willing to give up anything. However, when things are taken away or I have to lose something because I'm trying for something else, I have generally been able to "given lemons, make lemonade" - ie: I take responsibility for making myself happy with what I now have... and work at making things better. However, I notice that there are some things I won't try for because of what they might cost in giving up or losing stuff I have. However, that's not bad, necessarily. It's important to be honest and see that's what you're doing... it's part of weighing your choices. Some thoughts. Dave Crisp

-- Dave Crisp (dcrisp62@home.com), November 12, 2000.

Jean Pierre: Life is a continuous stream of compromise, so no matter what one thinks rules his/her life, it can change or be compromised for something more appealing.

Most people in this culture are unwilling to sacrifice food, shelter and sense of pride and recognition for work well-done. Those are the things that I am not willing to give up. Those are commong denominators no matter what your stature in society.

-- Terri Sherrod (t-belle@mindspring.com), November 14, 2000.