Jeff, don't begrudge the hockey. We all need a respite, consider it self-love. :)

Besides, how many times does it happen that the solution to a problem comes once you step away from it for a minute, like when you're doing the coffee enema. just saying..

You're right about us all being programmed. The degree to which we still are seems to be the big division (angst). We are all damaged goods and in that light, we should all be a whole lot nicer to each other. kinder

Glad that you got a grip on your depression. I had that for the longest time as well. Yours seems to have been beaten by your critical thinking internal investigation. I beat mine using a mental exercise. Once I got good and ticked off at what it was doing to me, I started inviting it in during my strong moments (just for a second) and then I would proceed to kick the holy hell out of it.

It stopped coming around, tired of getting beat I guess. But a point here is that thinking you can't control your own mind is false, at least in my case and yours.

I had an idea for a product that would teach people how to do what I did but never followed through with it. Maybe I'll share it here and someone else can do something with it.

It's a simple hour glass of sand. When you turn it over, it shows a smiley face and as it the sand runs out, the face begins to frown. You go over and make it smile again. It's analogous to the mental exercise of you're in control.
but
what the bleep do I know

"if our thoughts can do that to water, imagine what they can do to us" - we're 90% water

sorry, this got so long, just wanted to add these words from my website:

Besides, no one takes away our sense of humor or our goodwill ever. It may be our only act of defiance other than just telling the truth.