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Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

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Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#141

I'm thankful for getting cured of my chronic back pain of 10+ years just because of one HN comment (1). I was at a point in my life where my whole life used to revolve around my pain but thanks to this one comment I was cured of this terrible misery in just less than a month. So thank you HN and thank you @ceras for making my life so much better. P.S I'm happy to say that propogating that knowledge had that exact sam…

Very interesting. For about the past 2 years, I've been suffering from mysterious symptoms that seem to have no physical origin. My doctors have suggested that it's "in my head" or "stress related illness" and I'm completely open to that idea (in fact I welcome it). However, the biggest problem I've had is, "Where the heck do I go from there?" If it's all in my head, how do I get it out of my head? I'm definitely goi…

Sarno actually recommends going to a psychologist and talking about your emotions as his number one prescription.

But you could try to just "do it yourself" by learning to recognize and give yourself permission to actually feel your emotions. Ask yourself if you are angry, frustrated, irritated, annoyed, afraid, anxious, hurt, or upset in any way. Because it is these kind of "negative" emotions are the ones that tend to manifest themselves as pain in your body if you ignore them for too long.

Then let yourself just feel that emotion for a while. Really just sit with the emotion and don't get distracted by thoughts. Just feel it. And then after you are sure you have felt it as strong as you can feel it, then you try to think about what might be causing it. Really articulate it well to yourself in great detail. What exactly happened at the moment that the emotion started, who was there, what did they they do and what did you do? And then try to name the emotion. Put it into words what it is you are feeling. And then the last step is to ask yourself what you have learned from this situation. If you could do anything differently or see things differently when a similar situation happens in the future.

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#142
My country, really.

I was born in one of the richest and progressive countries in the world and honestly it has given me so much. I never really thought about it until I loved abroad for a bit and met people from other countries.

I'm not a kid who was always good at school. Actually, I didn't do jack shit until I was 23. I tried 3 different uni's, did high school at the middle level etc.. And at the end of it the government still offered to pay for my year long programming course.

Of course I've always been good with computers but I never studied it properly. I got a good job and life now because even after 3 failed attempts I was still supported and I'm more than happy to pay it forward.

And also my loving parents who have never been mad with me and always supported me even through my games-way-too-much high school period and other weird quirks I had to overcome.

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#144

1. I can go into a grocery store and buy whatever I want without once thinking about the price of something or the total bill. It's an incredible privilege - one that I hadn't really thought about much until recently - but now I can't stop thinking how thankful I am for it. 2. I can go home to my parent's house whenever I want and I'm lucky to have supportive, loving parents and an extended family that openly support…

> 1. I can go into a grocery store and buy whatever I want without once thinking about the price of something or the total bill. It's an incredible privilege - one that I hadn't really thought about much until recently - but now I can't stop thinking how thankful I am for it.

I was thinking about this earlier in the week. I can remember when I couldn't do this. I'd have to keep a running total of what I put in the basket/cart. I was living pay check to pay check. I had debt. Now, with my mortgage as my only debt, things are so much better.

I wish I knew, years ago, what I know now. I'm thankful I've finally figured (some of) it out.

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#145

I'm thankful that I love programming even after 2 decades, and that I'm very well paid for it. And I still come into work every day and love the challenges. There was a time where I was burnt out and needed to take a year off, but thankfully since then I've been able to center myself and my expectations and I've been thankful every day since.

What did you do in that year off?

I'm feeling like I'm pretty close to a burn out and I'm not sure how to deal with it.

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#146

1. I can go into a grocery store and buy whatever I want without once thinking about the price of something or the total bill. It's an incredible privilege - one that I hadn't really thought about much until recently - but now I can't stop thinking how thankful I am for it. 2. I can go home to my parent's house whenever I want and I'm lucky to have supportive, loving parents and an extended family that openly support…

I would suggest adding something to your first one: you can successfully eat whatever you purchase. I have celiac and serious food allergies, as well as an esophageal disorder. I also can’t digest milk or eggs properly. When I go to the grocery store, I walk around pretty much laughing to myself about how I literally cannot eat almost anything there. For Thanksgiving, I am having plain beef roast in a blender (well,…

I am so sorry to hear about your troubles. I am recovering from a similar situation in which my heath was so compromised that I struggled to digest and assimilate practically whatever I ate. I can relate to how alienating and debilitating it can be to have chronic illness consume most of your thinking and how severely it can impact all areas of your life. It is so easy to take our health and bodies for granted. I try imbue every moment with this awareness and cultivate gratitude for everything I have. I hope you're able to find support and strength as you manage your condition.

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#147

1. I can go into a grocery store and buy whatever I want without once thinking about the price of something or the total bill. It's an incredible privilege - one that I hadn't really thought about much until recently - but now I can't stop thinking how thankful I am for it. 2. I can go home to my parent's house whenever I want and I'm lucky to have supportive, loving parents and an extended family that openly support…

re #1, if you're ever at an ATM, look at the receipts in the trash. You'll see receipts with balances under $20. It's very eye-opening.

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#148
post #48

I'm thankful that the price of gasoline has dropped down to about $2 in much of the USA, in some cases even below. Tulsa is getting it for $1.90 now. It all feels like I'm seeing prices from the prior century.

Why is this so important to you? I, living in Europe and not owning a car, would be happy about higher gas prices (they are way higher in Europe than in the US already). Because I hope this would help to reduce CO2 emissions.

Well, my van gets 11 MPG. I need this for a large family. (still fuel efficient due to number of people)

BTW, some conversions for you: My van needs about 21.38 liters per 100 km. The fuel price is about 0.46 Euro/L, in some cases as low as 0.44 Euro/L.

Low fuel cost is hugely important for the economy. High prices create a recession or depression. Fuel affects everything, and recently the price of oil dropped by 25%. Farm goods are affected by tractor fuel prices. Most plastic comes from oil. Our trains mostly run on diesel, so this can affect ticket prices. Normal planes require jet fuel, which is more of the same. Both exports and imports need bunker fuel for ships. Oil is even used to make roads and steel.

So the prices show up everywhere. You might not personally buy any fuel, but the cost of it is in the price of everything you buy.

I guess I can add: I'm thankful that I don't have to depend on non-redundant rail and unionized government workers for my transportation needs.

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#149
Grateful that I can look back on my time on this planet and see a series of connected ‘coincidences’ that are leading to a future better than I can even imagine. The constituents of every little thing I enjoy in my everyday life were carefully produced by Nature over billions of years and were fashioned into useful or joyful things by other human beings. People no different from you or me in many respects.

Grateful to be an Indian-American and to be alive in 2018 AD instead of any other time in history. My cultural identity is rooted in my family tree that found a way to make it to the Land of Opportunity before I was born, the Natives who roamed these lands for millennia, and the pioneering ethos of America that established the National Park Service. Throughout my twenties, I’ve been fortunate to experience some of what was described in the Vedas, some sacred ceremonies of the Natives, and to be pursuing my version of the American Dream.

Grateful to have experienced the heaviness of the seafloor and the euphoria of the summit. These experiences have made it possible for me to empathically relate to nearly everyone I meet, even people who may not like me or agree with me. It puts the biggest smile on my face to be able to See the unity in the diversity, to Hear the order in the chaos, to Feel the perfection in the paradox. That I, too, can contribute to this collective creation we call ‘civilization’ if I can continue to cultivate the courage and compassion to overcome these mountains before me and within me.

Thanks for reading, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! :)

Re: Ask HN: What are you thankful for?

#150

I am so thankful that I know the meaning of my human life. I have a human spirit, which I can exercise to contact God. I don't know how I would live without this. All of the money and all of the experiences on earth are temporary, and in the end meaningless. Anything temporary compared to eternity is meaningless. Eternity is not only before us in time, but God has put eternity in our heart, and only God can fill that…

Eternity is now.

Yep, and it won't end.
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