Is Life Ever Unfortunate?

[The Sum of Awe]

I read an article today from facebook about a girl, in 2013, had her head smashed repeatedly by her dad on cement. My friend said "fortunately she lived!" I was thinking rather the opposite, but it got me thinking.

Is it unfortunate that she had to live through all of those blows including the head trauma and brain damage probably permanent?

 

[Sunstone]

Is it unfortunate that she had to live through all of those blows including the head trauma and brain damage probably permanent?

I think that's ultimately for her herself to determine, but as an outsider, I'd say, "Yes, it looks unfortunate." My mother is 96 this year. She's lost or is loosing her abilities, and watching her deteriorate makes me think it's unfortunate she's lived as long as she has, it's unfortunately that old age brings so much debilitation, and it's unfortunate that is the human condition. I myself hope to go before I become as debilitated as she now is.

 

[nilsz]

The father's life is unfortunate. He should not have lived to do such a thing.

 

[LuisDantas]

Why, of course. Life is often unfortunate.

That deciding exactly when and with whom is a serious and delicated matter, not to be taken lightly, is no reason to avoid making such a clearly correct statement.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

It sure is!

 

[Badran]

I read an article today from facebook about a girl, in 2013, had her head smashed repeatedly by her dad on cement. My friend said "fortunately she lived!" I was thinking rather the opposite, but it got me thinking.

Is it unfortunate that she had to live through all of those blows including the head trauma and brain damage probably permanent?

It's unfortunate that she experienced that, and that she'll experience the consequences of that, the but it's not necessarily unfortunate that she survived it, if i'm understanding your question correctly.

As pointed out, that's ultimately for her to decide. As to my own opinion on it, it naturally depends on what kind of brain damage are we talking about here. It's not clear to me what level of severity of damage is in question.

 

[Darkness]

It seems to me that there are certain extreme cases that life is not worth living. I would not want to live with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

 

[Tumah]

I don't think that life itself is ever unfortunate. What can be unfortunate is what we do with the life we have.

 

[dyanaprajna2011]

It's both. It all depends on one's state of mind.

 

[idav]

It is unfortunate that we can't always trust those entrusted to keep us safe. A kid hardly has a chance against an adult wishing harm.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Unfortunate things happen. Fortunate things happen. Some things are both. Some are neither.

Is there any reason for thinking that life isn't unfortunate sometimes?

 

[Contemplative Cat]

It all depends on from who's perspective is it unfortunate
There is a philosophical equation to finding objective truth
"According to whom, compared to what."

 

[Penumbra]

I read an article today from facebook about a girl, in 2013, had her head smashed repeatedly by her dad on cement. My friend said "fortunately she lived!" I was thinking rather the opposite, but it got me thinking.

Is it unfortunate that she had to live through all of those blows including the head trauma and brain damage probably permanent?

Usually I look at things like this with the thought that it would be better to have died. Death doesn't seem so bad, but a lifetime of illness does.

I do think that there are all sorts of conditions for which no life is better than that life. Like perhaps 5 year old children starving to death, people with horrible diseases and injuries, major abuse and torture, etc. At certain points, I think oblivion is preferable to suffering, or that it would have been better to have not been born.

I remember reading a story where a woman roughly my age was zip lining and fell, was infected with flesh-eating bacteria, and she had to have her leg, other foot, and both hands amputated. So she has no hands or feet. I remember thinking that I'd rather just die from the disease than spend an entire adult life without hands or feet. I don't know what I'd do with myself all day. Employment, sexuality, mobility, traveling, exercising, various hobbies, independence, and all of those things, are limited or at least changed and more difficult.

But there have been various articles about her recovery, using various prosthetics, and stuff. She seems to be fortunate to have a very wealthy and loving family, and combined with her optimism, the result is that in interviews, she always appears extremely happy.

So it really comes down to what the person thinks about their own situation, rather than what outsiders think.

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

Again, it's all a matter of personal perspective.

I could also say that it is 'unfortunate' the girl was born to such a father, or indeed such an imbecile (father) was born at all.

What is fortune and misfortune and how do we, as humans judge that? How far can we, as human beings begin to apportion blame to any external influence beyond ourselves? blaming 'Karma' or 'God's Will' or just 's*** happens'?

It's a question that's been on my mind of late, and one I just cannot seem to shake, whenever something 'bad' happens and I always want to know 'why?' now, it seems that I never think to ask 'why?' when all the 'good stuff' goes down...then I wonder why all the 'good stuff' hardly goes down anymore...duh!

So, I still wonder how much we love to compare our misfortunes to others if that, in any way is some kind of consolation or 'cold comfort' seeing as how we often find pity (if not amusement) in the misfortunes of others...'yeah, be thankful you're not a starving kid in Africa'...ya know?

Which leads me on to the lengths I will go to find answers...and I do this thing whereby I'll pick up the closest book to me, close my eyes, flick though it, open up a page and read it.

This time, the book was 'Don't Sweat The Small Stuff' - Richard Carlson PHD and the chapter was:

17: Surrender To The Fact That Life Isn't Fair - 47

So, I got my answer to this.

 

[Slapstick]

I read an article today from facebook about a girl, in 2013, had her head smashed repeatedly by her dad on cement. My friend said "fortunately she lived!" I was thinking rather the opposite, but it got me thinking.

Is it unfortunate that she had to live through all of those blows including the head trauma and brain damage probably permanent?

"Is life unfortunate?" Nope!

"Is it unfortunate that she had to live through all of that ... " Yes! It is unfortunate that she had a disgraceful, despicable father that had no respect for life much less his own daughters. Hopefully he gets what he deserves, but it will never be enough to excuse all the torment he caused his own daughter.

 

[Amechania]

Statistically most people will have relatively equal shares of good and bad fortune in their lives and some people are going to have misfortune on a regular basis while others are going to live the life of Riley. Finding a silver lining in a life of constant misery or after catastrophic injury is essential to survival and so these people must find it or die. That she survived gives her that opportunity. For the father it will be harder. His wounds are deeper and may be fatal.

 

[NobodyYouKnow]

Statistically most people will have relatively equal shares of good and bad fortune in their lives and some people are going to have misfortune on a regular basis while others are going to live the life of Riley. Finding a silver lining in a life of constant misery or after catastrophic injury is essential to survival and so these people must find it or die. That she survived gives her that opportunity. For the father it will be harder. His wounds are deeper and may be fatal.

Most of what I speak about relates to personal experience.

I know there are a lot of people out there like me, but I was born tarnished with the 'brush of fate' and I have learned (the hard way) if there's one thing I must not do, and that's to tempt her in any way. It is a matter of survival for me that only a few people can understand.

Not many know of this (well, they all know it, but think it's my own imagination), however, nothing in my life has ever 'gone right' and that is something that everybody can agree upon and attest to! People often ask me if I am related to Murphy, forget Riley. Yet when I ask them to explain why it is life never seems to 'give me a break', they all come up clueless.

A lot of it is 'self-inflicted' but for me, that always seems to spiral into a series of unforseen, unfortunate events that would make for a very amusing sitcom 'God, Family & Me'. At the moment, as I type this, I am on the run from credit agencies and lawyers due to unpaid bills, I have lost my car license due to a minor traffic offense that got out of control, I am forced into share accommodation (nothing more than a fancy tin shed) with a grumpy old man I hate, I am living/surviving (barely) on a welfare cheque and don't eat decent meals, my car is out of Registration next month even IF I did have a license to drive it and could afford to pay it. My health has not been the best either, but I can't get to see the doctor...and I mean, this is all the good stuff.

It seems that bad luck/karma follows me wherever I go and I have had to come to terms with all of that, and instead of asking 'why?' or 'blaming God/Karma' or even comparing myself to somebody in a coma or wheelchair, I can go about adjusting my household budget to save money, finding alternative transport arrangements, growing some vegetables and finding more practical solutions to my problems rather than blaming 'God' even if He is 'testing me'.

So yeah...bad luck? I invented it.