Why are some people more blessed than others?

[John VN]

Well, you have to feel that there is some sort of grand plan. If you don't buy that then it seems that life is just a giant crap shoot. I'd prefer to think there is someone guiding the plan even though I can't understand it. It just makes me feel more secure.

That train accident was very tragic.

I do not have to and matter of fact do not believe that there is a grand plan. I have no problem believing that when my life ends there will be nothing to follow. Call me crazy or delusional but I, unlike many, feel quite at ease believing in my mind that beyond my last breath there will be nothing to feel, hear, see, taste or know.

I did not have a choice in my birth and will live my life as it fits my needs asking nothing from others but giving what I can and when my time is up I will not really care if anyone remembers me or any good deeds I had done.

Instead of fearing death I welcome it whether it be in the nearer moments that follow or years to come.

 

[Feralpeg]

I do not have to and matter of fact do not believe that there is a grand plan. I have no problem believing that when my life ends there will be nothing to follow. Call me crazy or delusional but I, unlike many, feel quite at ease believing in my mind that beyond my last breath there will be nothing to feel, hear, see, taste or know.

I did not have a choice in my birth and will live my life as it fits my needs asking nothing from others but giving what I can and when my time is up I will not really care if anyone remembers me or any good deeds I had done.

Instead of fearing death I welcome it whether it be in the nearer moments that follow or years to come.

I'm glad you've found a way that works for you, just as I have found what works for me. I, also, do not fear death. I can't say that I welcome it, but when it comes, I will be able to say that I lived a good life. I gave whenever possible to as many as possible in whatever manner I could. I tried to be a good person. I don't think I could ask any more of myself. I will be happy in that I feel I've brought happiness to others. So, in that respect, I do feel blessed. I feel I am one little piece in the grand plan.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

It may be a matter of perspective in an instance like the one you mentioned, but saying it's all about perspective is too simplistic, IMO.

Say someone is born with an incurable disease in a thirld world country and is raised in poverty by a single parent.

Someone else was born with an able, healthy body and mind, in a developed nation with two loving middle-class or better parents..... How the "it's all a matter of perspective" POV works here?

I just can't see how with the examples above -and there are millions of people born under either of those circumstances- anyone could not see the first example as extremely unfortunate, and the second one as very, very lucky.

It's not all a matter of perspecive.

The first person you mentioned describes Mother Theresa.

The second person you described (two loving middle class parents) exactly describes Ted Kazynski. (sorry about the spelling ,don't feel like googling him).

I stick to my guns that it IS all a matter of perpective.

 

[moon]

The first person you mentioned describes Mother Theresa.

The second person you described (two loving middle class parents) exactly describes Ted Kazynski. (sorry about the spelling ,don't feel like googling him).

I stick to my guns that it IS all a matter of perpective.

No, neither of those you mentioned is described in my example.

I never knew Mother Theresa was born with an incurable disease? What was it?

As for Ted K, he was mentally ill, so sorry, It is NOT a matter of perspective

 

[luvsJack]

You know, there are those who believe no matter how bad they have it someone else has it worse. Those people also always believe themselves to be blessed.

Anyone can look at their life and only see what is negative (and believe it or not everyone has negative things in their lives) and only see themselves as "unblessed". Someone else in the exact situation can find the positive and feel that they are blessed.

Blessings are not always something you can see like big houses, nice cars and expensive vacations. Sometimes a blessing is simply seeing the sunrise in the morning or listening to the bird sing. Holding a baby close or having a pet to love. There will always be people who live in poverty, who are sick and who are dying--that doesn't mean there is no blessing in their lives; it just means they don't have the same one as you or I.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

No, neither of those you mentioned is described in my example.

I never knew Mother Theresa was born with an incurable disease? What was it?

As for Ted K, he was mentally ill, so sorry, It is NOT a matter of perspective

Mother teresa was born in a third world country. I think she had rheumatoid arthritis.

Ted Kazynski exactly filled the parameters you stated. If you had stated, born in the united states to two parents and given a good education and NOT mentally ill, I'm sure there's some other poor fool I could have found.

My point is, that the outside trappings of one's life, ie born in a first or third world country, poor or rich, two parents or one, does not make one blessed or not blessed.

Other people may *perceive* those situations as blessed, but the reality of it may be quite different.

You could argue all day long whether Harry Potter (who is a fictional character), is blessed or burdened.

Really, blessings and burdens are two sides of the same coin.

 

[Buckalew11]

I started a thread about this very issue a while back. OP I get where you are coming from.

I don't think this is the same thing at all to someone viewing a glass as half empty or half full.

I can understand luck - it happens or it doesn't happen. There is no control over it. But "blessed" is different to me because it carries the connotation that whatever good fortune one has is bestowed upon them by a greater power. So then, why does this higher power bestow blessings upon some and not others?

Mrs. Pete says that the higher power does it for reasons that only He knows, but that isn't a very satisfying answer to the only beings to which He gave the power of reason.

I have decided to stop trying to figure it out.

Sometimes I wonder if people are blessed to see what they will do with that blessing. You know, the ol' love your neighbor (2nd greatest command).

 

[moon]

Mother teresa was born in a third world country. I think she had rheumatoid arthritis.

Ted Kazynski exactly filled the parameters you stated.

No he doesn't this is what I said:

Someone else was born with an able, healthy body and mind, in a developed nation with two loving middle-class or better parents..... How the "it's all a matter of perspective"

That is NOT Ted Kazynski

Having a mental illness is absolutely one of the worst, most unfortunate, and heaviest burdens one can carry

And "you think" that Mother Teresa had remathoid arthritis? So, we don't know if that is a fact. Regardless, being afflicted with a disease as one ages is a world appart from being born with it.

My point is, that the outside trappings of one's life, ie born in a first or third world country, poor or rich, two parents or one, does not make one blessed or not blessed.

Other people may *perceive* those situations as blessed, but the reality of it may be quite different.

You could argue all day long whether Harry Potter (who is a fictional character), is blessed or burdened.

Really, blessings and burdens are two sides of the same coin.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. To me the notion that my two examples are "two sides of the same coin" is baffling, just baffling.

Honestly, if everyone reading this now had to be born again, which circumstance do you think would be most desirable? Do you really think someone would choose to be born in poverty, with an incurable disease -be it physical or mental- or healthy and well to do?

Do you honestly think that it wouldn't make a difference because "it's all a matter of perspective"?

 

[luvsJack]

No he doesn't this is what I said:



That is NOT Ted Kazynski

Having a mental illness is absolutely one of the worst, most unfortunate, and heaviest burdens one can carry

And "you think" that Mother Teresa had remathoid arthritis? So, we don't know if that is a fact. Regardless, being afflicted with a disease as one ages is a world appart from being born with it.



I think we'll have to agree to disagree. To me the notion that my two examples are "two sides of the same coin" is baffling, just baffling.

Honestly, if everyone reading this now had to be born again, which circumstance do you think would be most desirable? Do you really think someone would choose to be born in poverty, with an incurable disease -be it physical or mental- or healthy and well to do?

Do you honestly think that it wouldn't make a difference because "it's all a matter of perspective"?

No, of course no one would choose to be born in poverty in a third world country with an incurable disease. But we don't choose the situation in which we are born and we don't choose the blessings we recieve.

I knew a boy in high school who seemingly had the worse life of us all. He knew that he was not wanted at birth, he had been abused and neglected and traded from family member to family member. He had very, very little to call his own--only a few clothes. Finally one of his family members found out about the dorms at our HS and sent him there. In English Lit we were reading Romeo and Juliet. When the topic of suicide came up, he got really, really upset and kept saying "how could anyone do that, no matter what was happening at least they were alive".

This boy with all his hardships and no one to love him stated to his entire freshman english class that he was blessed in his life because he was alive, he could see and hear and because he had found our school to move to. Would he have chosen the life he had endured? No, probably not. But by his prespective he was blessed in his life.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree. To me the notion that my two examples are "two sides of the same coin" is baffling, just baffling.

Honestly, if everyone reading this now had to be born again, which circumstance do you think would be most desirable? Do you really think someone would choose to be born in poverty, with an incurable disease -be it physical or mental- or healthy and well to do?

Do you honestly think that it wouldn't make a difference because "it's all a matter of perspective"?

There's a difference between what is perceived as "most desirable" and "blessed". What we are blessed with and what we may desire are two different states of existence.

You are confusing, again, external situations with an internal perception.

Many, many, many of us would "choose" different paths than the ones we find ourself walking.

IMO, it has nothing to do with whether we perceive ourselves, or others, as blessed.

I am ok with agreeing to disagree with you.

 

[Camicar]

I used to think that if you were a good person and did the right things, you would be blessed.

Then I opened my eyes to reality:

You can be a good person and have something horrible happen to you. Over and over. You can be a horrible human being and get showered with blessings. If there is a grand plan, then I wonder about the morality of the Grand Planner that so many of us are just cogs to be ground down, abused, and murdered in pursuit of said plan.

I see this reality daily. What I have now realized is that:
Life is, in the end, pretty random.

 

[Buckalew11]

I know what you are saying but the Grand planner's books says that part of the plan is that it rains on "the just and the unjust". Bad things happen to good people and bad people. Good things happen to both. Many times during the bad times people draw closer to the Grand Planner then in good times. The Grand Planner's plan is mostly about relationships with people (good and bad) so everyone goes through both while alive. JMHO.

 

[LuvOrlando]

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[mickeyboat]

I think this topic can be divided into two separate issues.

First is whether you are content, happy or feel blessed with your lot in life. That is a matter of perspective.

Second is whether there is some higher being actually bestowing blessings upon people, and by what criteria does he choose to bestow them.

The second issue is what I think the OP is trying to probe.

 

[freckles and boo]

I think this topic can be divided into two separate issues.

First is whether you are content, happy or feel blessed with your lot in life. That is a matter of perspective.

Second is whether there is some higher being actually bestowing blessings upon people, and by what criteria does he choose to bestow them.

The second issue is what I think the OP is trying to probe.

I think ultimately it still boils down to perspective because none of us actually knows the truth. I am an atheist and believe that there is no higher being. That is my perspective. I don't think anyone is out there pulling the puppet strings or moving the chess pieces. If anything in our lives is controllable, we need to be the ones who grab the steering wheel.

People who believe in a higher being have a totally different perspective. They have to reconcile for themselves why a benevolent god would create, allow, or tolerate suffering and why some are more "blessed" than others.

We all, whether we believe in a higher being or not, can take control of our attitudes. Are we going to find the positive in a situation? That is what we all have in common, despite our belief systems.

 

[sunshine girl]

Has anyone read the book "Outliers: The Story of Success" by Malcolm Gladwell? It somewhat relates (not exactly, but in the same arena) to this conversation. I read it and really enjoyed it.

His theories are not all-encompassing, but the overall logic strongly resonates with my life experience and observations: I think if you have good things in your life, it's a product of luck (or whatever you want to call it) somewhere down the line, combined, in many cases, with a solid dose of personal effort.

www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017922

Quickie synopsis from Amazon:
"Malcolm Gladwell poses a provocative question in Outliers: why do some people succeed, living remarkably productive and impactful lives, while so many more never reach their potential?

Challenging our cherished belief of the "self-made man," he makes the democratic assertion that superstars don't arise out of nowhere, propelled by genius and talent: "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot."

Examining the lives of outliers from Mozart to Bill Gates, he builds a convincing case for how successful people rise on a tide of advantages, "some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky."

 

[mumom95]

The first person you mentioned describes Mother Theresa.

The second person you described (two loving middle class parents) exactly describes Ted Kazynski. (sorry about the spelling ,don't feel like googling him).

I stick to my guns that it IS all a matter of perpective.

I thought I had read that Mother Theresa was born into a well to do family. I may be wrong, but for some reason I thought I remembered reading that.

edited to add: I just google it. Her father was a well known contractor, and her mother a housewife. They may not have been really rich, but she had both parents and they apparently weren't poor.

 

[jamimb]

To me, blessed doesn't imply deserving. Though, I do think it reflects a persons belief system. Blessed implys that you are thankful for what you have been given.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Considering yourself "blessed" is a state of mind that has everything to do with gratefullness! Being blessed and being lucky are two way different things! I consider myself to be very very blessed but not lucky at all!!!!