I believe in the freedom to choose one's own destiny. While in your current life you affect others and others you. Your decisions are affected by others and they affect you. In the end, you have the true choice on your decision.

Because your decisions affect others, it will return back to you in a similar form of karma. Some people believe in karma, that your decisions and actions affect your everyday life. That is true but only part of it. Everyone affects you and their decisions and actions relating directly or indirectly with you. The simple act of being in the sight of your eyes affects how you act and what decisions you make. The simple act of finding God can change a life forever. No matter how great or small something may appear it will encourage different decisions in relation to that matter and the current state of mind you are in.

For an example, one life isn't exactly one but many potential lives. If I were to kill a criminal man that was born ten thousand years ago, it would be like genocide. That man's offspring would have not existed as that man would be dead before they were born. Their sons and daughters would also have never existed and continuing down their lineage it easily adds up to many more people then you could possibly know personally. A life is beyond priceless and value because it gives life to many more countless lives which are priceless in their own right individually.

Decisions come at every moment. No matter how big or small they may appear they have tremendous impacts on others directly or indirectly. Every step you take is a decision to move forward, and every door you open is an opportunity that you take. People can only show the doorway and give you the tools to open it, but it is you that must decide if you really are going to open it.




Inspired by this website: http://www.thisibelieve.org/
Feel free to write your own below.

Been trying to reply to this since I first saw it, since I want to say something a bit more toughtful than just "awesome!" but I'm relaly busy, only doing quick posts... so.... here it is.

I believe that when you make a topic titled "This I Belive" that you should edit the title to "This I Believe"

I liked the part about killing a criminal from the past being genocide because he would never have had the chance to create offspring. Thats deep, I like it.

I say if we don't kill people Earth would be more populated, everything happens for a reason so if you die
its for a cause. But in the end 'Evil Never Wins.'

If Earth were more populated, we'd have more people working more urgently for a solution.

I think it evens out no matter what.

Rofl, sorry for laughing..
We have 6.5 billion people in Earth (around) how many of those do you really think are working urgently for a solution? I am not saying we are all bad people, I am just saying some don't have the technology, some don't
know that the Earth is going (bad), and some people just can't help themselves.

err contraceptives? Its more the fact we have crap global diplomacy and countries are unwilling to share technologies with each other

Yea its part of it, but I meant for people that really can't do much, because lack of technology, etc...

And maybe that persons offspring would of started a murderous cult that would end up being the death of an entire continent.

In the end, most of what Max said seems to be things we already know. We already know that we have a choice in life, and that our choice changes things. So this thread is just pointing out the obvious.

Also, Ed5, not everything happens for a reason and not everyone dies for a cause. Some things just happen for no fucking reason at all, and some people die for nothing.

Also, saying that "evil never wins in the end" doesn't even make sense. So it would be nice if you'd explain what the hell you meant by that.

lol But everything does happen for a reason, but most people think that "for a reason" is something good. But I think not, rather it is to show people that not everything is good, or to prepare people for worse.
I don't know, some people are just too hardheaded and killing seems to be the only thing that will get to them. ~.-
And of course you may not think that people that die of natural causes die for a reason, they die for there is room for someone else to live in this world, but there is a problem(well more than one).... We human reproduce faster than we die. ^.X And our technology allowed us to save lives, but we need to focus on saving this Earth or there wouldn't be any lives to save.
lol "Evil Never Wins" is just something I like to add when a discussion of this arises. Meaning that what ever bad happens, it will not last, or it will end. But of course without evil there is no good. ;)

The concept of things happening for a reason is just a concept created to help people cope with the random senselessness that is life. A man who spends his life giving to charity, helping others, and other generally good things will likely think it to be because of the good deeds when he wins the lottery. However, this very same man could get shot dead in the street after a lifetime of charity. The same is true for an evil man. Karma is comfort food, and "everything happens for a reason" is just a way of saying karma.

Also, unfortunately for the optimists out there, good doesn't always triumph over evil. In fact, in reality, good rarely wins.

I don't believe in karma.
I am just saying anything that happens is for a reason, weather its good or bad.
But, I guess I have shared what I have in mind, lets see what everyone else have to say.

I think Chopra summed it up nicely when he said "when you make a choice, you change the future".

Everything happens for a reason. Maybe a reason you feel is not important or significant but there is a reason none the less. For every action you get a reaction. Think of it in that way. Doesn't matter how insignificant it is.

A reason is a cause. So saying "everything happens for a reason" means that everything is happening for a certain cause to be accomplished, which would suggest our lives are being manipulated for a certain cause.

Of course every action has a reaction, but that doesn't mean it's part of some greater cause.

It doesn't have to be a part of some 'greater cause.'

I think we are getting into the realms of determinism and causality here.

If future events are determined solely by current and past events combined with the laws of nature in a consistent manner then there is no role for a greater power, but does that also mean that there is no free will?

I don't really believe anything happens for a reason...does everything happen because of something else that happened? Yes. Does every action have a reaction? Yes.

Just because something has an affect on something else doesn't mean it necessarily happened for that reason; it just happened because of something else. It's a matter of the theory that "For every action there is a reaction;" not a matter of this happened for X reason.

For every 10 people born, maybe 1 will actually care about finding a solution to something that actually matters? The more people, the more problems. Sorry.

QUOTE (Ed5 @ Jan 11 2009, 12:47 AM)

QUOTE (Sp3ctre18 @ Jan 11 2009, 12:39 AM)

If Earth were more populated, we'd have more people working more urgently for a solution.

I think it evens out no matter what.

Rofl, sorry for laughing..
We have 6.5 billion people in Earth (around) how many of those do you really think are working urgently for a solution?

I understand what you mean that not everyone can't, but not sure about the logic of this sentence. Let's shrink the world to ten people.

currently: 2/10 working for a solution
more people: 3 - 5 / 20 working for a solution.

When you think about it, major breakthroughs come from the few anyway. I couldnt even guess a percentage, low or high, but how many people of the world are in some scientific field that are what driver our scientific advances? not many i'd think, since are so many other important jobs people fill.

more people working for solution =! everyone working! it just means more people are out there, more people who can work toward a solution. And that's all i'm restricting that logic to. Whether or not more people is a good thing overall, no one can say. There's a lot of ppl doing really bad stuff people don't hear much about but is always on going (ie, Africa, and countries on the other continent on that side of the Earth.

QUOTE (Pipinowns @ Jan 11 2009, 07:31 PM)

In the end, most of what Max said seems to be things we already know. We already know that we have a choice in life, and that our choice changes things. So this thread is just pointing out the obvious.

Maybe for some of us smarter ones, but you should know most people out there don't know and can't even figure out the obvious.

QUOTE

Also, saying that "evil never wins in the end" doesn't even make sense. So it would be nice if you'd explain what the hell you meant by that.

What's hard to understand about good always prevails? Not that you should too deep into that though, and maybe that's what you're referring to.... everyone knows it never ends and there's tons of stuff still going bad or getting worse.

@ Ren, I think you're opening up a new can of worms...don't go there lol.

about this thing happening for a reason, I dunno, I think there's 2 - 3 answers that, and NEITHER can be discounted because, it's a matter of opinion and beleifs.

Under the literal perspective:
1. If you don't believe in God, I don't see how things can happen for a reason. That could only happen if you put a god or some sort of mysticism or pureley speculatory idea of unconscious, non-phyiscal human interaction.
2. If you believe in God, then because of Him, everything happens for a reason (ie, Signs movie? lol), or
3. (my belief) God influences only SOME things for a reason, but most things probably only seem to happen for a reason because he has to plan for free will. Knowing future =! predetermined future.

The other perspective would be, just looking at the reaction...but then, I woudln't use a phrase like that. That phrase indicatied there was a purpose intended, and the reaction that ocurred was thus intended. There may be other ways to think about it, but i'm stopping there.