analies

Interested ... need more info.

Hmmm...surreal is normally good but "uh oh" certainly isn't; should I be concerned for you?

Thanks for the birrthday greets - took the day off work to do some serious smoking so what could be better?

You sure everything is okay. or at least manageable?

happy birthday

Happy birthday!

I would broadly agree with that last paragraph but add a few caveats:

Despite the fact that it demonstrates empathy and compassion, it has been suggested by some psychologists that we really shouldn't concern ourselves with a lot of the terrible things that are happening throughout the world simply on the grounds that there is reallistically nothing that we as individuals can do to rectify the situation therefore we are causing ourselves unnecessary worry by feeling bad about such things.

It's not all bad. There are many people out there doing a lot of good, performing acts of kindness etc. but that sort of thing is largely "too boring" to be deemed newsworthy. Most media reports on the basis that "if it bleeds, it leads"; it is the sensational and exceptional that is reported on.

Overall life has been, in wide terms, improving - health, life expectancy, standard of living, infant mortality generally improve decade by decade. It seems counter-intuitive but we can probably say that now is the best time to be alive in history.

In general what I am saying is that if you focus on it there is as much good in the world as there is bad.

that outlook can bring you down. every positive is a treasure that far outweighs each negative. the trick is celebrating, or even noticing, every single little positive moment, no matter how small or common, since the negative can be overwhelming. i must remind myself of this all the time.