"If you love someone, you want them to be happy; not sad". I think such an idea is around when people get married for instance.

But I sometimes doubt if this is just co-dependence in a glorious cloth. This taking responsibility for another person's feelings. That sadness of a loved one has nothing to do with us. Sadness is just another feeling. Nothing is wrong and we are not burdened to make things right somehow, and make that person happy.

Then at other times I think that statement is really true. Self energy which is love energy does not want to see sad people parading by, something I guess once Schwartz said.

So I am confused.

What do you think?

Emphasis on CAN. I don't want it to be too ambiguous /open ended or vague.

Emphasis on CAN. I don't want it to be too ambiguous /open ended or vague.

An analogy

Think of the weather.

Every gust of wind comes from atmospheric processes.

That doesn't mean every gust represents a new storm.

Similarly, every thought may arise from underlying psychological processes, but it doesn't follow that each thought identifies a separate enduring part.

Two thousand years ago, St. Paul in Romans 7:19 (Authorized King James Version):

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Do you accept this as a terse, condensed argument for no free will? or not necessarily? How would a free will believer retort?

Two thousand years ago, St. Paul in Romans 7:19 (Authorized King James Version):

For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.

Do you accept this as a terse, condensed argument for no free will? or not necessarily? How would a free will believer retort?

I just finished Versailles. Going forward, any series that covers what happened after Louis XIV?

For 18 months straight, I walked almost daily. I counted the steps. I took care of my food. I had a bit of carbs but mostly stuck to low GI foods such as vegetables and meat. My A1C regressed to normal range.

But then somehow my deprivation of chocolate, cake, chips, pasta, rice, etc took its revenge. I missed them so so terribly. So I started eating them.

My plan to manage my diabetes completely went out of the window.

I wanted to share my experience. But I don't know the solution. Because if you want to manage your diabetes, you are advised to change your diet. This inevitably will bring a sense of deprivation. For me, it took its revenge ferociously.

Mind you, I had a bit of sweet things even during those 18 months, from time to time.

1. I have diabetes, I take medication, the dose need not increase over the years, my blood sugar stays at the good level.

2. I have diabetes, I take medication, it works for a while, but the dose has to increase to have the same effect in the long term.

Diabetes

I got diagnosed with diabetes type 2 a while ago. Then I felt a fearful part getting activated after learning diabetes can have serious harmful effects. I started taking long walks and eating healthy. My HbA1C dropped below the diabetes mark. But now after 18 months, that fearful protector is burned out. I don't take walks any more. My sweet cravings are back; I'd like to eat cakes and ice-creams. Deprivation just feels awful. I also want to eat more in general too. All the weight I had lost is back.

It seems fearful protectors can definitely burn out. Now some parts are totally disappointed. It feels like all the hard work for nothing. Looking forward, they wonder if we want to go through another cycle?

Some Self-care rather than fear-care would be nice. But I can't wave a magic wand and conjure it into existence.

That's all.

My diet is fine, by the way.

I have become a skeptical if someone says: "But I love my loneliness!". I cannot imagine how biologically and somatically the body prefers staying alone in a flat. It is impossible. It goes against everything we know about our evolution, human nature and our species history.

The only scenario in which someone might enjoy loneliness and call it solitude is I guess when a protector part steps in. It is trying to prevent the pain of relationships. But even here the exiles are screaming for connection and being surrounded by a tribe.

What do you think? Have you given this much thought?