Human Sacrifice

While Tyler's example was extreme, it's not far off the mark. Some people need a serious kick in the ass to get their head on straight. A lot of it is human basic human nature, the average person will do just good enough to get by. They spend their formative years being coddled, spoiled and spoon fed. Then life yanks the rug out from under them and they sit on their ass crying about 'how hard life is'. Gah, I need to step back from the soapbox.

Thing is as much as we have control of our lives we don't always have control of what cards we are dealt. Yeah people are crying about how hard their life is but sometimes it just is that way. It's hard to get out of a situation that you didn't get yourself into in the first place. Sure there are ways to make it better but sometimes those decisions are more than just a mere sacrifice. Being truly "happy" means being selfish and in doing so you will hurt those around you or sacrifice their happiness. Not that its highly important to keep everyone happy because that is just impossible. So sure some people need a kick in the ass but others just need guidance on how to balance their lives to be happier. You really don't have to sacrifice much of anything but rather make compromises.

Disprove it. Plenty of people are happy without being selfish, the ginger at the food bank who goes there for her own joy or people at animal shelters, being happy is a state being selfish is an action.

The idea that selfishness is tied to happiness is illogical.

Ayn Rand.

did you read my first post?

Also my point by saying "prove it" was to show that i'm not right but i'm not wrong either. I should have wrote that some people are never truly happy because the things they want they sometimes have to be selfish. Sure not all people need to be selfish to be happy but that is only one aspect of some people's definition of happiness.

So yeah I worded that shit wrong but doesn't mean people don't feel that way.

If people are stagnant, it's because they want to be. that's part of the contradiction in Fight Club, to 'free' people only for them to become part of/conform to some ideal you have of what life should be.

The world owes no one a living. If you want something you don't have, you have to work out a way to get it and then go for it. Sure, it's easier for some people than for others - but just sitting around on your hands saying 'well it's not my fault my life is this way' is letting yourself be kept down. A lot of people do this because it's easier than taking any kind of risk; if you sit around all day crying about how hard your life is, and then someone else comes along and sees that it is hard, then you're always right. The one thing everyone has control of in this world is their own life, whether they want to believe it or not.

(Just to clarify I don't mean 'you' specifically here audrey, I'm using it generally.)

Some people do need a shock to the system to help them, and it can be greatly beneficial. They still have to really want to make the change within themselves, though. Other people, like those in the mindset I described above, would just use an experience such as depicted in the 'human sacrifice' scenario in Fight Club, as a further example of how their lives are so terrible that they can't do anything about it. Like softcore said, some people are stagnant because they want to be - whether they want that consciously or unconsciously.

Very true, some people find happiness in choosing the simplicity of conformity.

Well sure people are in control of their lives but only to a certain point. I wasn't talking about the people that complain its not their fault so they just sit there and do nothing. I'm talking about the people who are in fucked up situations against their will and there really is nothing they can do about what happens. Growing up near and in ghetto places that really aren't that bad compared to other places ...I've seen kids brought up in fucked up situations, sure they can make decisions for themselves but it's kind of hard when your authority figures are fucked up. There really are a million different scenarios I can play out for you where there are these people put in situations they really only have so much control over. Eventually yes they can get out of those situations but it either takes complete selfishness meaning you are going to hurt others, or great patience in dealing with the problems and kind of lingering til it is solved. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone much like you're saying. Yes there are people that can fix their problems but that is not always the case. You can't always say it's a crutch or an excuse because I feel personally that there are legitimate reasons why someone won't do certain things for themselves. There is usually someone else in the picture to consider and your decision could affect them. That's why I've said "true" happiness(in regards to what you want) is selfish. Yet "real" happiness is what we need by sacrificing what we want. Sorry this is all Taoist and shit.

Regarding the softcore statement I can agree and disagree. Once again there are those people that remain stagnant because they want to be but for example I have been stuck in this place in my life for a while and I've tried taking steps forward but there was always something pushing me two steps back. These are things I really couldn't do anything about but I've just had to work that much harder to move forward again. Sure it sounds like shit will fall into place if you just take control of your life but that's really not realistic. Shit happens that you have to deal with,which takes time and effort out of your life, then you move on.

Like I said before it's about finding the right balance and if you haven't noticed we tend to want to run on a one track mindset which leaves little room for actually reaching happiness and if not we have too many tracks going that they just pile up, crash, or diverge creating even more chaos.

No, my point is that you're conforming either way, so who gives a shit?

the "Raymond K. Hessels" are either conforming to some lazyish societal norm or Tyler Durdan's whacked out "proactive" norm, so either way they're "conforming" to something. the hypocrisy is that the only way to be truely "free" would be to choose which you're conforming to, and by choosing the one that isn't pointing a fucking gun at your head.

Unless you want to choose the one pointing a gun at your head.