# What keeps you going? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 3, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780 "2012-11-03T18:00:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/21 "2012-11-03T22:16:33Z")
Not wanting to hurt my family, and being curious about the future. Plus I’d be scared to make things worse. If I jump off a bridge I might just wind up a quadriplegic, but without the perky attitude and spectacularly rich family found in awesome quadriplegics. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/22 "2012-11-03T22:37:45Z")
**spite** ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/23 "2012-11-03T22:54:55Z")
Cowardice. ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/24 "2012-11-03T23:02:00Z")
I’m too stupid to realize that quitting is an option. ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/25 "2012-11-03T23:03:03Z")
Hoping that someday I’ll look back and say, damn, look what I went through, but I got through it. I managed and survived. Go me! and give myself a big pat on the back. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/26 "2012-11-03T23:17:39Z")
Beer and spicy food. ---
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/27 "2012-11-04T00:19:21Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > I have to see what’s next. Yes, I want to see how this saga of human civilization turns out. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/28 "2012-11-04T00:21:26Z")
> [@ArrMatey](#): > > Knowing that others would be in pain if I gave up. . . . Yep… My mother committed suicide, and I hurt… I’ve sworn I won’t hurt others the same way. > [@](#): > > Beyond that, there are people I know online that I’ve never met face-to-face, and I really want to. I keep going so that I continue to have a chance to do so. I know, it’s small, but it works for me. That, and so many other good things. Books to read, places to go, food to eat! And the unexpected! One day, many many years ago, I was down, and thinking sad thoughts. At one point, I got up and took a whiz. A pee. And the urine came out in a forked stream, half to either side of the toilet! After I mopped it all up, I thought: any world in which that sort of thing can happen is a world I’m not finished with yet! ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/29 "2012-11-04T00:23:26Z")
Music. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/30 "2012-11-04T00:24:32Z")
The [New Horizons spacecraft](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Horizons) arrives at Pluto in July 2015. I really want to see what Pluto looks like, so I’m good until then. ---
**Author:** ![Cold\_Dish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@Cold\_Dish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cold_Dish)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/31 "2012-11-04T00:50:53Z")
My nine year old grandson. My stepson’s adopted boy. He is my everything. I would never want him to think he wasn’t enough. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/32 "2012-11-04T01:07:57Z")
I want to see how _Breaking Bad_ ends. I want to see how _A Song of Ice and Fire_ ends (which should keep me going awhile.) I’m not necessarily sure that death will bring me peace. Just in case death turns out worse than life, I might as well maximize life as much as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/33 "2012-11-04T01:24:19Z")
My girls. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/34 "2012-11-04T01:31:32Z")
> [@PaulParkhead](#): > > I came in to say that. Is there nothing so obscure that someone on the SDMB won’t mention it? And I came in to praise that answer. So there is at least three of us ;). As for myself I’ve never really felt quite that kind of existential despair - I’m guessing I’m just not wired for it. But there are a million things I enjoy in life. Just the other day I watched a [White-tailed Kite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_Kite) catch a small snake about 25 yards from where I was walking. Pretty neat. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/35 "2012-11-04T01:32:38Z")
All the little things, and all the big things, and the fact that experience tells me that however bad it is, it’s not forever. Things \*will \*get better. They will, in fact, get fabulous (and then at some point they’ll suck again, but hey… lather, rinse, repeat). ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/36 "2012-11-04T01:44:19Z")
My awesome dog, [Brewster](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/cochrane626/Brew2009.jpg). Taking care of him and keeping him happy is what keeps me going, and he returns my love for him a million-fold. Without him, I’d be all out of give a shit. ---
**Author:** ![al27052](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@al27052](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/al27052)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/37 "2012-11-04T03:09:36Z")
My daughter, my wife, my parents, maybe my closest friends. ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/38 "2012-11-04T04:04:29Z")
I want to see Louis C.K. on SNL, so I’m good for another 4 hours! (And my sweetheart, cat and the release of the Zerg portion of Starcraft 2) ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/39 "2012-11-04T04:31:09Z")
I have suicidal ideation so this comes up from time to time. Usually somewhere in the murk I remember some small, but important, thing that I need to be around for and it’s enough to postpone the serious planning. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780/40 "2012-11-04T04:34:35Z")
Someone’s gotta do what has to be done. Someone has to make the meals, put the kids to bed, comfort them when they’re sad and be their champion when no one else will. I love my husband dearly, but he doesn’t seem well equipped to do those things. So one of us has to. Also, progress. Any little evidence of a step forward, whatever its cause and however little, is worth noting and celebrating and keeps me going. Humor. Many situations that seem terrible or disgusting or obnoxiously inconvenient are funny later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-keeps-you-going/639780.md?page=3)