From: ibshambat@gmail.com   
      
   According to some people, one of the worst things that a person can be is an   
   obsessive. In fact there are many tasks that require obsessive focus, and   
   being of an obsessive temperament can be an advantage in a number of pursuits.   
      
   If you are a researcher, being obsessive helps. If you are a priest or a   
   teacher, being passionate helps. Some fields very much require obsessive   
   approach; and the people who think that people with such temperaments are   
   necessarily bad are wrong.   
      
   Now there are any number of people who do not want obsessive attention   
   directed at them. That is fine; it can be directed at other things. The people   
   with such temperaments should be steered toward pursuits that require   
   obsessive focus. And of these    
   there are many.   
      
   If someone can feel passionate about a person to the point of being obsessive   
   about them, then he can do the same thing in other pursuits. He can become   
   equally focused on God, or on a cause, or on a research project. There are   
   many in psychology who    
   think that such people are incurably sick; but all that this means is that   
   they have no idea how to deal with them. Basically they do not know what they   
   are doing. They do not know how to help such people. It does not mean that   
   nobody can.   
      
   The solution with the obsessive types is to direct their obsessive attention   
   toward pursuits that are viable. Direct them at God. Direct them at causes.   
   Direct them at projects that require obsessive focus. Give them something to   
   focus upon that they can    
   feel passionately about and pursue relentlessly. The result will not only be   
   these people doing something productive rather than annoying. It will be the   
   world benefiting vastly from what they have to give.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)