Another reason to not live in California.

[XDM45]

In real life, people get hurt or killed. Lives get wasted. Communities are torn apart. Cultures are destroyed. land is contaminated beyond usability. And, believe it or not, young people are terrorized to the point of suicide for ridiculous things like having a child whom his classmates have known as a boy for a decade, meander into the girl's locker room to change for gym class.

All things which only matter in this incarnate and very finite existence. Just like how things only matter (so much) in my Monopoly game example. Also, if by life being lost you are referring to the incarnate life, then yes, but that "life" is lost no matter what because the incarnate existence (or "life") is temporary. All incarnate existence/life begins and ends, but the true you, real Life itself, is so much larger, infinite, and so much more than any incarnated existence/life could ever be. In short, don't sweat the small stuff. ALL that really matters is Love. Don't worry if you don't believe what I say, when your own incarnate existence/life ends, even if it's a Near Death Experience, you'll find out. It's all good. Those who don't believe certainly don't threaten me or my knowledge at all. It's just how it is. Believe it now or later.

At the end of the world, in the great scheme of the cosmos, yeah... I get your point... tree falls in the woods and such. But I'm here now. My kids will be here later.

Now, all of the above I said being said and true, I do agree that while you are here, just as when playing Monopoly, things do matter to some degree within the context of the game / incarnated life. I don't dispute that at all. My point is how much people give importance to things within the context of the game / incarnated life. I certainly give it credence, but not to the point where it overshadows the larger truth. Think of it like this, Park Place matters, but to a point. I know my family's lives matter while incarnate, I don't want to see harm or death come to them, but at the same time, we all die and we all go on.

There's a lot of things we can stress over in life...abortion, gun rights, money, status, etc, but I PROMISE YOU, that NONE of it REALLY matters.

Their future will be determined by well-intentioned, and not so well-intentioned people who know damn well the difference between right and wrong.

1) Everyone knows the difference between Right and Wrong, as they define it for themselves. It's all relative to the individual because we all perceive our realities, create our own beliefs, and form our own truths. Yes, that's Relativism, but if you don't perceive these things for yourself, then who does? No one else. YOU do. Thus, it is all relative to YOU... to each individual. So what's "Right" and "Wrong" for one, is not for all, in this incarnated existence/life.

2) Yesterday is a cancelled check. Tomorrow is a promissory note. Today is cash. Spend it wisely.

What I mean by that is that ALL we have RIGHT NOW, IS NOW... the present moment. Living in the past or hoping for a probable future is a waste of time. Remember the past, sure... try and plan for a probable future, that's fine too, but attempting to live in either one is foolish because when you do, you waste the present moment of now; which is all that any of us really have. Of course "Time" itself is a man-made construct, just like "The Stock Market", "Money" and everything else is too. We believe it to be, so it is...at least within incarnated existence/life aka The Monopoly Game.

Overall, I think you and I are more in agreement than not. I think the primary difference is where we place our focus. Mine is beyond the temporal layer of this incarnate existence/life. While I give this incarnate existence/life importance, if I "died" today, I'm ok with that. I don't fear Death. I don't think that I'm "Right" and you're "Wrong", (or vice versa), I just think we look at things differently, yet somewhat similarly, that's all. It's just where, what, and how we place our focus that is mainly different. We're looking at difference facets of the same diamond, so to speak.

[bensdad]

difference is where we place our focus. Mine is beyond the temporal layer of this incarnate existence/life.

You've implied that mine isn't. That's pretty condescending. I'll let it slide. I guess the REAL difference is how much FOCUS we're capable of. I can do both.

[XDM45]

difference is where we place our focus. Mine is beyond the temporal layer of this incarnate existence/life.

You've implied that mine isn't. That's pretty condescending. I'll let it slide. I guess the REAL difference is how much FOCUS we're capable of. I can do both.

No implication meant. I don't subscribe to right and wrong for anyone but myself. All opinions are valid and one does not negate another.

I can focus on both as well, obviously I do since I'm here, it's just a matter of which one I place more importance on,....for me that is. I was merely pointing out that my primary focus isn't on this incarnate existence/life, but rather on the greater life that we all are, our true self. This life as we know it incarnate is important, but it's nothing compared to what lies beyond it. That doesn't mean it doesn't have value or require focus and concern, it just means (for me), that I don't worry too much about my incarnated existence/life vs the other.

Do as thou wilt, an if it harm none.

We're all free to choose our own paths.

As you can see, I'm speaking about my values, opinions, beliefs, nothing about yours. There's no "YOU" in any of that, is there?

The same is true when I wrote the "difference is where we place our focus. Mine is beyond the temporal layer of this incarnate existence/life." The "We" I used in that line is meant for "people", not necessarily you and I specifically. If I'd written "difference is where people place their focus. Mine is beyond the temporal layer of this incarnate existence/life.", the point would be the same. Perhaps "We" and "People" are merely semantics? I try not to get hung up on semantics and lose the message, but I realize using the best-fitting words and definitions is important, so perhaps I should have used "people" vs. "we" in that line.