Pat,

I know that you and I don't see eye to eye very much, and that we haven't really argued or debated over anything for quite some time now. But when I see you make a post like this one, as a Parent I cannot remain silent! It troubles me to see a young man, such as yourself feeling this way. Yes it is normal for all of us, both young and old, to go through depressing times, to feel down and out at times. But even though we all go through times like this every once in a while, we MUST overcome those feelings. Pat, you musn't feel that life is shit. You are a young man with a future ahead of you. You are a pretty bright kid. Yes, sometimes the pressures of life get us down, but believe it or not, when we get past them, we see that they are not as bad as they seemed at the time we were going through them, and that we have become much stronger for experiencing the bad times in life. When you are going through times like this, and feeling a bit down, it sometimes helps to put things in perspective. Think about the fortunate things that you have in your life, and then look at some of the other young people around the world, people that you yourself have posted about that live in third world countries and are happy to get one measly meal for the day. Those people have every right to feel that life is shit. Yet they perservere! When you sometimes look at those that are less fortunate then yourself, you realize that life is really not that bad for you! You would like to get a girlfriend? Well if you want some girl to like you or be attracted to you, then YOU must first feel good about yourself and your life. Show that you are confident in yourself. Then the girls will be all over you Pat! Again, it is perfectly normal for you to feel like this at times, but the secret is to get over those feelings and live on in life. Pick out the good things and go from there. And the most important thing to remember Pat? It's that when you are feeling down and out, that things are not so great, don't dwell in those sad feelings, don't hold them into yourself. But reach out to someone, a friend, a guidance counsler, or whomever, and let them know how you are feeling. You'll be surprised to find that if you let your fellings known to someone else, you'll begin to feel better about yourself and you'll find that you are not alone in having those negative feelings from time to time. Talk about it with someone Pat, it'll make you feel much better, Hang in there kid, you'll get through it and will be debating again before you know it!


Don Cardi