[quote=Imperfectionist]You're repeating yourself, Gwazi. You said the same thing about thick skin on the last page.[/quote]

You mean you're just noticing repeats in this thread? :P

[quote=Imperfectionist] I'm new at this, plain and simple. I haven't had a chance to acclimate to the styles people use. This stuff, all of it, is a learned skill, one that I'm just dipping into for the first time, and I'm not very good at it right now. I'll get better. I'll formulate better arguments, write longer posts, etc, but I gotta start somewhere.[/quote]

That's all fine, everyone start's somewhere. I'd try to give advice on how to help you do that, but I doubt you want to do it my way.
My way was basically having to deal with shitty people long enough I just snapped one day and went "I don't need to care what other people think or say to me" and it stuck.
Now to clarify, since that day (Grade 3-5 I believe) grew up enough to recognize other people are right about things and do listen to them if they can prove their point, but I still don't let negative remarks or opinions about me pressure me or make me feel bad like others do. In fact you could say, I feed off people's hostility towards me. I more often now find it a good thing cause it means I'm being honest/standing up about something rather than bending backwards to please people. :P

[quote=Imperfectionist]I hope you die happy, Brovo. I really do. I'm just too scared to take on a mindset like that. Too untrusting of my own perceptions. Too fond of the irrational and the fantastic. I hope you die happy, and I hope I do too.[/quote]

Speaking as a former Christian this is honestly the main thing that I find prevents religious people from going atheist after being convinced their religion is false. Fear of dying, fear of simply not being anymore, and fear of that dead loved ones are in fact gone for good. I think I got off easy here because I just happen to be a very big advocate for the truth, despite how much it hurts. But for most people, this is often something that proves a massive challenge. One that never fully resolves and still lingers around and hurts people who accept that fact. But at the same time you do get cases like Brovo where there is a positive spin to it, being able to focus on your life now rather than worry for later. Or as say Richard Dawkin's puts it, this is your one time or chance on this planet so make the most of it. Or even as Carl Sagan puts it if you want more of a "I will continue to be something" sort of argument, we are all star stuff and when we die we simply return to the Cosmos. Our physical bodies are simply just temporary caretakers of the atoms and energy that composes of and creates us.