Hala401

I am not much a proponent of medications, perhaps because they were so badly misused on me. They may be nessessary for a time, I think the goal would be to learn to live ones life with a clear view that Heavenly Father loves us. I am speaking soley for myself. Now, to be clear, there are biochemical things that happen like Manic/depressive, Schizophrenia and other problems that must be medicated.

Cognitive Therapy is vastly different than Dialectical Behavior Therapy. It really seems silly at first, but I have learned that I can change my own thoughts, and that has been powerful in my life. Also, there is this farcical idea that we need to be the person that everyone else thinks we should be. We need to be who we really are, and not who our families, friends, or our employers think we should be.

Black March: Oh, make no mistake, I am a patriotic American. I just have a bit of truck with certain individuals in our government both present and past. AND, I increasingly see people as citizens of the world because now more than ever before, actions in a country half the world away can affect people right here. Sometimes I fear that there is nothing special about humans at all, rather we are just loathesome predators.

The idea that water rights in the Middle East is the cause of conflict is something I have never heard of before, though I do not doubt it at all. Perhaps that is part of the missing information that I seek. I can certainly see people in conflict over the water in the Sea of Galilee. And, surprisingly there is a lot of farming in Syria, a place I thought was mostly desert.

I'm not depressed, but do once in a while have thoughts of suicide. I am not going to over spiritualize on this, because they are just thoughts, and when I did what I was supposed to do, the thought went away. For the first time in my 65 years, I believe that Heavenly Father loves me, and I no longer believe that when painful things happen to us, Heavenly Father is mad at us. So, aside from the devout reverence that I feel for Heavenly Father, I do not fear him, other than knowing full well that he created my body from mud, and can tear me apart to my most basic elements at any time.

I am sorry. I do not mean to be argumentative, but did you know that in the US, Doctors and other practitioners are given a commission on drugs prescribed? I was prescribed very heavy doses of Welbutren, Celexa, and Trazidone. I have not been on Welbutrin and Celexa since early 2007, and take a small fraction of what I used to take of Trazidone. I am now told that Welbutrin increases suggestibility, and does not relieve Depression, and Celexa, an antianxiety med causes dramatic weight gain. The DBT did help me a lot, but in light of my experiences, I think the most significant thing one can do for a chronically depressed person is to help them to see what is causing the depression. In my case, it was a bad marriage and untreated extreme childhood abuse. The most healing thing that has happened to me in the last 10 years was for the Holy Spirit to reveal to me, how much Heavenly Father loves me, and he placed me, for the first time in my entire life with people who are loving and kind and endeavor to follow God. Much peace Hala

I am sorry for your pain. I had non reactive suicidal thoughts most of my life. In fact I had one this morning. However, from 2006 to 2010, I spent 3 hours a week in a program called "Dialectical Behavior Therapy". For the first two years, I thought it was pretty lame, but I went. It is a program to change the way we think about things. For example, this morning I got up feeling uneasy and even after I prayed, I still felt very melancholy for a number of reasons that just aren't important now. So, today because I could, instead of eating a good breakfast, I went to Mcdonalds, got some food and left for a road trip, and a nice walk. We can't always just run off, but some other things we can do when the darkness sets in is to have a warm bath, with scented candles, eat some ice creme, go for a walk, call someone and ask them how they are doing. I just don't think that we have failed Heavenly Father when we are blue, and he has given us the tools to make ourselves feel better. If you would like to talk, please message me. Much peace Hala

The West, specifically the Military/Industrial complex created the conditions that made the terrorists think that an attack on the West was their only option. It is not about religion at all, but about evil men taking advantage of the poor, and the evil leaders are both in the West and in the Middle East. One of my friends, who says she converted to Islam because of me, said that when she married her husband and moved to Jordan, she was in for the surprise of her life. After being there a while, she said the most devout Muslims are in the US, because in the US, there is choice and only those who wish to be Muslim do it. She says that in Jordan, and many other places in the Middle East, people have no choice; they must be Muslim or else. Many people in the Middle East become violent out of pure economic desparation, not for religous purposes, and to say other wise is simplistic. Western news media simplistically portrays Middle Easterners as being hostile for no good reason. I think that of all people Mormons should be most up on world politics and the attitudes of the people outside the US, because we have people all over the place. I know that we are supposed to obey those over us, but sometimes I am dumfounded at how people like the Mormons who have been systematically deprived of first ammendment rights right from the beginning could be so committed to certain individuals in our government.

This is pretty common faire in Middle Eastern News agencies, and I am just curious about how Mormons will respond to what this man is saying. Saudi Arabia: CIA Agent Exposes How Al-Qaeda Doesn?t Exist American Bedu

I think it would be perhaps one of the most comforting thing a young woman could have happen to her to have her dad come get her. Of course that is not saying that he did not give her a stern talkin' to, and help her to make sure that the wipers got taken care of. When my youngest Daughter got her driver's license, before her Dad would give her the keys to the cars, he took her out and helped her to change the oil and filter, check the belts, check the air in the tyres, and then made sure that she knew how to jack the car up. She still remembers that as one of the fondest memories she has of her Father. Sometimes it is just not about discipline but about caring and love.

And you have my respect.

Of course, in full historical context, we were having a Depression worse than the one in the 20th century, and by modern thinking, I am wondering if the Civil War was actually fought as a way to bolster the Military/Industrial complex? And, the Irish Potato Famine was driving immigration. So, I can see where there was a sort of perfect storm in the formational years of the Mormon Church. Please make no mistake, this is not an attack on the validity of the Mormon Church. I just think that there were a lot of factors, allowed by Heavenly Father that drove the imigration to what was first called Deseret. I hope that time will show that I and many others are no less devout than they were.

I think I saw that in the field manual.

When I first started with the Missionary Sisters, they would say things like Heavenly Father, and it felt like my soul was jarred. I could not understand how anyone could put "Heavenly" and "Father" together in the same sentence. The word Father always carried great menace for me. I did not look for it, the healing came to me unbidden, but especially since my Baptisim Heavenly Father has healed my soul in ways that I thought not possible. It was like I was a wild animal and God just tamed me. And it feels good, and secure to be able to relax in Heavenly Father's love. I hope that what I write does not get too soppy for you all. It just feels so wonderful to be able to express my love for Heavenly Father.

And, upon reflection, I can see where hardship can make us better, more compassionate people.

I thought it was funny, cute and lovable for her Father to come and rescue her from the policemen. :) Many of us never had a father like that, and this example just gives me the warm fuzzies.

An that is one of the main reasons that the Missionary Sisters won my heart. The Holy Spirit used them to show me just how mindful, thoughtful, and sweet Mormons can be in areas that the evangelicals and others break into foaming at the mouth over. In the short time I have been with the church, I feel that so much psychotherapy and counseling would simply be unneeded if those suffering simply had people around them who loved them and tried to understand. Sometimes, I wonder if life long LDS members really understand how unique our church is and how much Heavenly Father loves us.

I spent a few minutes watching the Texas Tornado reports today, and wondered how people who lost their houses, cars, and even family managed to cope with it all? At Christmas of 2004, I lost my house, family, got a divorce, lost my job, church, friends; everthing except my car. I was a mess and cried for months. It took me two years I think to begin to function again. So, my experiences have really sharpened my compassion for those who lose everything. How about whole communities that are wiped out by storm, earthquake or fire? This brings to mind how early Mormons must have felt in the formational years of the church where they were driven from town to town, murdered, raped and robbed. It makes me angry that they were not extended first amendment rights. In my amateur studies of American History in the 1800's, it is fairly plain that the frontier was quite lawless. Infant mortality was around 50% I think, and many wives died in child birth. My, what a bleak setting to grown up in. I simply can not imagine pulling a hand cart for 1000, or is it 1200 miles across the prairie. What pain it must have been to lose wives, husbands, children or entire families. Can you imagine fording half frozen rivers and creeks? My Bishop says that people were more hardy then, and that today most people could not do what the settlers did.

This will be my first Easter in 7 years, and I plan to thank Heavenly Father for all that has happened. As far as the Candy and Easter eggs are concerned, with no children in the house I doubt that I'll do anything. I was going to say the candy and eggs were a pagan custom, but I know if there were children here, I would never get away with that.

I have this Authority, fear, obedience thing conditioned into me from my years of living with a very authoritarian non practicing Amish man. So when that man in blue shows up, there is no chance that I will do anything but what he asks.

I was worried that it was swearing in the UK and I did not know it. LOL I know that Bl***y is, so refrain, even though I know people who use it with abandon. Hala

I'm to new as a member of the church to know the background in the Book of Mormon, but hopefully, I will learn more as time goes on, plan to learn more. I have traveled a fair bit and personally see no reason to descriminate against another human being no matter what the issue is, and my stance has gotten me into a fair amount of trouble. AND, being a white American have experienced a little prejudjing by others. In Kenya, they assume that all Americans are rich. Many Muslims assume that an American Muslim Woman who does not speak Arabic is somehow not worthy. In Alaska, if you are not a Native, try to get a job. The list just goes on and on does it not?

Well, lets look at this from the point of view of the poor plod. First you have a female driver who is apparently operating a motor vehicle in a dangerous and unsafe manner, in the rain, and probably posing a hazard to other motorists. She did not excercise a lot of common sense by going out at night in a vehicle with bad wipers. And, I am sorry, her lame excuse would be doubly lame if she got in an accident and had to face the consequences of such activity. Her Father is also partially culpable for allowing said juvenile female on the road in a defective vehicle. It is an amazingly distasteful stereotype that has women unable to find their way around the area where they live. Poppy ****! It is no excuse at all in my estimation. The fact remains that this young woman escaped a traffic stop with out a citation and to me that amounts to neglect of duty by the police. So, lets not be too harsh on the people sent out there to protect us from our stupid selves.

Wow, you all get really intense! Please let me know how this comes out. :)

Well, being from Oregon, the weed capitol of the US, the presence of brownies means that there very likely is weed in them, at least in Oregon. LESSON 1: Get wipers fixed. LESSON2: Get GPS and learn to use it. AND GPSs will work in Utah, you just have to learn to enter addresses in a protocol that it likes. :)