on approaching the end of my 50th circuit around the sun
i am not one of nature's victims;
in fact, fortune loves my ass.
i embrace all of my failures
because every one was a doorway into something better:
quitting college within rock-throwing distance
of academic termination
prevented me from wasting years pursuing
some ill-defined career i didn't want.
getting run out of aspen on a rail by the sheriff
kept me from killing myself with drugs
and brought me back to texas to meet my future ex-wife
with whom i'd create three people whom i love more than my life.
getting fired from my job in memphis when she was pregnant
led to my enlistment, which ultimately
brought me in contact with the man
who taught me how to be a writer.
getting fired again, from the highest-paid job i've ever had
freed me to do the creative work i'd always dreamed about doing
but never had the balls to try for real, in earnest
and led me to (dare i say it?) my one true love.
the only people i really pity in this life
are the ones i know who didn't make it out of their 20s and 30s,
not because everyone who lives as long as i have figures things out,
but because you have a better chance of doing so if you stick around.
in fact, fortune loves my ass.
i embrace all of my failures
because every one was a doorway into something better:
quitting college within rock-throwing distance
of academic termination
prevented me from wasting years pursuing
some ill-defined career i didn't want.
getting run out of aspen on a rail by the sheriff
kept me from killing myself with drugs
and brought me back to texas to meet my future ex-wife
with whom i'd create three people whom i love more than my life.
getting fired from my job in memphis when she was pregnant
led to my enlistment, which ultimately
brought me in contact with the man
who taught me how to be a writer.
getting fired again, from the highest-paid job i've ever had
freed me to do the creative work i'd always dreamed about doing
but never had the balls to try for real, in earnest
and led me to (dare i say it?) my one true love.
the only people i really pity in this life
are the ones i know who didn't make it out of their 20s and 30s,
not because everyone who lives as long as i have figures things out,
but because you have a better chance of doing so if you stick around.
posted by stashdauber at 10:01 PM
2 Comments:
Thanks for writing this. Reminds me to look at a few things in more positive terms.
appreciation, gratitude, letting things slide, making priorities a priority...
not entirely sure that with age comes wisdom, but maybe every year forward provides us the ability to take a step back and get a broader view of who we are and where we're at (and why things are what they are.)
hoping to get the chance to stick around long enough to find out.
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