I've been contemplating some ideas, as people are oft known to do. I've been through some strange situations recently, and I want to know what others think of some ideas. Without giving you the back story, I just want some blind answers.

1. Is it better to tell the truth uncompromisingly, even if it might hurt someone? (Is it better that a painful truth is told than a comforting lie?)

2. "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it." What if you're not sure if it's nice or not? Should you say it anyway?

3. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." What if what you would have done unto you, was done to you? Does karma give you the right to do to them who did to you?

I'll post these in the forums, where I'm more likely to get responses, but I wanted them here, too. Please respond, no matter what you think of me personally.

Forgive me. I've only been a member since, oh, November. I have blogged. But nothing seemed good enough. And now, I'm in one of my bouts of depression that I mentioned in my profile (see: bad habits) and I feel like expelling a few witticisms, if you'll allow.

First of all, cigarettes. More specifically, smokers. (Keep in mind, I am a smoker--not like a pack a day or anything, but...I find such self-destruction attractive and inspirational at times). If you're like me, you have the occasional cancer-stick to boost or otherwise enhance whatever mood you happen to be in. I find cigarettes to have an intensifying effect. If I'm in a bad mood and I smoke, I get in an even worse mood and am forced to deal with why I'm in a bad mood. If I'm feeling creative and am just having a hard time getting it out, a cigarette will...help the creativity flow more freely. I write very well when I smoke. And I think a lot of writers have discovered this. Wander down to any writers' hot-spot (a cafe with internet access, a local park with secluded benches, etc.) and you're almost sure to find that at least one writer has a lit fag in hand. I almost never smoke when I'm in a good mood. Probably because I enjoy being in a less-than-good mood more than I enjoy a good mood. Happiness is...less intense an emotion for me. Above all the reasons that you smoke--if you are, indeed, like me--you know the truth about cigarettes. They are known to cause cancer. They are bad for you. How could they not be? You're inhaling SMOKE into your lungs. Doesn't that burn? We all know what smoke does to the body, be it cigarette smoke or other smoke. That's why you don't stay in a burning building. It burns! Have I made my point? I realize that cigarettes are bad for you, and that's probably part of the allure. It's a form of self-destruction, and humans are, in general, self-destructive. Even the most up-beat and non-depressed person has a bit of a self-destructive thing, whether consciously or subconsciously. However, this is not the only type of smoker. The type of smoker that really pisses me off  is the type who still lives by the old lie that cigarettes aren't bad. With all the evidence screaming to the contrary, how could you think that smoking doesn't cause harm?! Even the cigarette companies admit that they're bad for you. They do so by hiding behind the Surgeon General's Warning, but they admit it nonetheless. Emphesema and lung disease would be virtually nonexistent without cigarettes. Heart disease and other chronic illnesses would be drastically less prevalent. HOW CAN YOU THINK THAT CIGARETTES AREN'T BAD?! It's like sticking your finger in an electric socket twenty times and still being surprised that you get shocked on the twenty-first time. Maybe some people aren't comfortable with admitting their own massochism and feel safer by hiding behind the lie that cigarettes don't cause harm. Personally, I'm well aware of my own self-destructiveness and am perfectly at peace with it. I've accepted it. Have you?

Which brings me to another point. Self-destruction. I don't have a death wish. I enjoy my life. I probably enjoy the worst parts of it more than the neutral parts. What I don't like is dullness. I live life to the fullest. If I settled for just passing through, I'd feel like a sell-out. Who wants to be ordinary? Why wouldn't you strive for the best? I really don't understand the "Oh, a C is fine. I could definitely have gotten an A if I had actually put a little effort in, but why try harder when a C suffices?". If a C is all you're capable of, then congratulations. You've striven for the best you can, and you've reached it. You have nothing to be ashamed of. But if you're capable of more, why wouldn't you want more? For example, I know I'm capable of acing pretty much every class I take. It might be a reach, but I can do it. And so I try my hardest. And if I only manage to get a 98.9% on a test that I tried my hardest on, I don't let it get to me. 100% was only attainable in effort. But if I don't try my hardest and got the same score, what the hell was I thinking? I realize that school isn't for everyone, but...neither is driving. And if driving isn't your thing and you have to drive, are you just going to not try? Are you going to crash head-on into that semi in your way? NO! You're going to put the effort in to swerve out of the way. It's not just school and driving. It's life. You should live intensely. If you're mad, be mad. Kick and scream and let it out. If you're sad, cry. If you're happy, BE HAPPY!!! If you have to feel pain, feel intense pain, not dull pain. Apathy is not acceptable.