A Secret About Life

If, like me, you grew up in America after 1980, then you, like me, were likely subjected to a lot of what I like to call “Hippie Horse Crap”. Now “Hippie Horse Crap” crap is an umbrella term that involves a lot of small things like teaching children how do develop a positive self-image, or how to forgive yourself and rid yourself of any negative emotion. Some of my favorites are things like “Do what you love” or “Follow your dreams.” Or even “Getting a college degree guarantees you a good job.”

The problem with all of this “Hippie Horse Crap” is that it frequently implies that you should only focus on the positive. And the problem with that is that life is full of negative stuff. Which means that most people go into adulthood not prepared for what is about to come their way.

Remember kids, never listen to hippies.

Not long after striking out on their own, life hits them in the face with a 2x4. And our newly minted adult never saw it coming.

Well, let me tell you something about life: It’s going to be hard.

I really wish someone would have told me that. It sounds really simple. It’s obvious to the point of stupidity. You may even be saying to yourself, “Of course it’s going to be hard! Whoever told this clown it was going to be easy?” But really in my defense and the defense of hundreds of thousands of males growing up in the United States today, it’s really easy to go 20, 25 or even 35 years of your life without ever being told. You may have to go through several battles in your life before you realize that “hard” is the default setting in life.

But now you know and “forewarned is forearmed.”

Let me tell you another secret about life, if you act prudently and try to prepare for trouble, before it arrives  at your doorstep, the problem isn’t quite as vexing. And decreasing the mental stress of life goes a long way toward making life easier.

Money may not buy happiness, but a lack of it makes things more stressful.

So if you’re smart and decide to forego the convention of working only 40 hours a week and decide instead to get a part time job in order to pad your bank account, it will be less troubling when your refrigerator quits working. If you decide to skip the club scene and instead look for a person who is wife material, you’ll significantly increase your odds of finding a soul mate and having a fulfilling marriage.

Life will still be hard. There will still be trouble. But if you use your head, you may find ways to make trouble less…uhh…troubling.

Till next time, gents.