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That's good to hear, I wish you well for the future.

Your first sexual experience, and it's maybe and you're not sure. So yes, it could be that you're just getting experienced in relationships and therefore learning about yourself too. Calling it 'friends with benefits' doesn't mean it stays just that, there's something going on which you're not sure about. You had a relationship and a breakup from her, whom you're not calling your girlfriend but a friend with benefits. But you also said you're not healed enough for other relationships and still want to be with her. Her, not someone else, her. So can you see how it looks like it might be something deeper ? I count myself lucky that I've always known I only ever wanted deep relationships, not casual flings, so never got into dating girls on a casual basis. Not that I didn't have some painful breakups though.

@Someone here What are your feelings - there was some talk on the previous page suggesting you might love her, is that so or not? It didn't seem a very definite statement that you love her, so I'm wondering if you're not sure, or if there's some unacknowledged feelings for her? Or are you feeling bad because you're single and want to be with someone but not necessarily her?

I can't accept that I alone am (to rearrange your phrase of I am alone). Either we all exist as separate people, or none of us do. I'm not special so as to exist alone. I love your question about whether I'm lying to you. How can I do that if I don't exist as a person with my own agency and free will 😃

Indeed so, and I keep a record of the inflation rate to compare with other values, to give a better idea of the real trends as cash is mostly deflating. Another tactic the media and politicians use is to focus on the % change in inflation rather than the index figure itself, and say things like the cost of living crisis is over when the % has come down to 2% or so. But if your income hasn't kept up over that time you've become poorer anyway, the prices have ratcheted up so to speak. But I can see you understand all this, is there an issue for you or are you worried about the others who don't think about it? Very much recommended to do your research before jumping in. Gold has been on a good run for about a year now and it may be running out of steam soon. I only went for it as a short-term hedge because I was getting twitchy about the stock markets 6 months ago and wanted to guard against a fall in shares. I also went for some gilts, bonds and defensive stocks to diversify. In hindsight I was a bit premature because stocks haven't dropped yet, but at least I've kept up with my more diversified position. It's complicated because interest rates have been falling and GDP growth rates tepid and it looks like the authorities are worried about a recession risk. Imho of course! True enough, investing in 'markets' means investing in human nature with our faith and emotions like greed and fear. I've realised that the prices for these assets tend to overshoot the 'rational' values both on the way up and the way down because of our herd behaviour. Crypto is an example where the graph of Bitcoin price vs time is beginning to look like a mountain range with very steep sides!

You don't say if you're diagnosed too (no need to if you don't want) but in most countries you'll need that diagnosis to get the medication. Why don't you like the idea of it? According to the medical science, it's addressing a chemical imbalance in the brain and I don't see a problem with that. I drink tea and coffee through the day to keep me alert, and ADHD medication is a type of stimulant too.

I don't see an argument against investing in stocks & shares here. Yes there is inflation but as long as your investments are beating the inflation rate, you're making a gain in real terms. It's hard to get a cash savings account earning interest above inflation, but according to your figures here, the S&P tracker is beating inflation by about 5% which isn't bad for a low maintenance investment like that, which you can do on long-term buy and hold. I've had global trackers long-term and they've served me pretty well over the years. But I am more diversified now. Well, all these things are relative; you're saying here that gold would have been a better investment than the stock market index. Maybe other asset types would have done better too like property, but then you've got the benefit of hindsight. If you think gold is good for a few more years then why not put some investment in that? I bought some gold ETF and it has done well recently. Yeah, I guess the practical value of a lot of real things like houses and cars doesn't change so much. But companies aren't limited and can grow in size and profits. The best investments are supposed to be giving you both an income and capital gain, like shares and property. I don't know a lot about how crypto works but I'm not so sure it's safer than fiat currency, just because there's no government interfering with it. At the end of the day it's just made of information, it's an abstraction that is only as valuable as people's belief in it.

Course it is, always has been. Us humans are just another bunch of animals living in a jungle, with a veneer of civilisation. We're also an expression of love too like the rest of the animals.

Interesting that their companies are responding that way, to encourage more native fertility, rather than ask the government for more immigration, which is what happens in the West. What companies want, I would guess, is for more workers to keep up their productivity and profits. I wonder what the women aren't happy about in their country. A common reason in my country for couples delaying starting a family or having more children is financial, and the housing shortage. Yet when I look globally there's a definite correlation between poverty and high fertility, with a few outliers of highly religious countries that buck the trend. What changes do you want to deal with in this way?

I invest in markets via my pension plan. But I use mutual funds rather than stock-picking individual company shares, before I go into any details is that within your topic you want to discuss? Also are you only interested in discussing shares here, or other asset classes such as bonds or commodities?

The first shark is rejecting the other's feelings, worse than that, telling the suffering shark to reject their own feelings. The second shark is validating, accepting of feelings even if painful. With practice it can lead to empathy and secure attachment building. Funnily enough, our therapist (who isn't a shark 😀) gave us this same lesson only last week.

I've had to re-write this post because I thought that "Son of God" isn't a Jewish term, but a Greco-Roman Pagan one: there were numerous demigods and demigoddesses born with mixed parentage of divine & human. Eg Hercules, Achilles, Aeneas, Helen of Troy. However I just found out that "Son of God" appears several times in the Old Testament (Genesis 6:2, 4; Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7; Hosea 1:10) . But how to reconcile being a Son of God and God at the same time? And 'God the Father' wasn't his father in the nativity story anyway, it was the Holy Spirit which came to Mary. My amateur guess would be that the early church leaders wanted to attract both Jews and Pagans into their new religion, and were creating a hybrid theology to appeal to both.

Hi, and sorry to hear about the argument. I hope it's over now? To be honest, when I've had a row I can't think about powerful spiritual things, if it's a bad argument I just want to get out of the house. Outside for a walk where the wide open space, the sky, the trees and nature have a way of absorbing the furious turbulent energy, and allows the knot of angry thoughts to unwind and relaxation and calm energy to slowly return. Then I'll probably end up in a cafe, maybe at the local garden centre and I can get distracted looking at the gardening stuff (my hobby) plants, tools, seeds, etc. That's what works for me because it aligns with my interests like walking, nature and gardening so maybe won't copy across for others. My spirituality is also to be found immersed in nature, so I find that 'being there' does it for me.

I think so. Pettiness is usually what we use as the distraction, like watching TV or some other entertainment or comfort to fill the mind. So something healthy is a better alternative. Most of us can't be intensely spiritual and mindful all the time 😀 I guess if I'm filled up with pettiness I like to get up and do something practical. DIY on the house, play with the kids, get out in the garden, go for a run or a walk in nature. Takes me out of my petty thoughts.

Phil, you've found the gateless gate !!