Tough Love

Okay so here it is. If I offend you, it's because I love you. And this is probably what you need to hear, whether you like it or not.

You really think you're tough, but guess what. You're not. You hide behind prescriptions, cigarettes and alcohol but I know you. I know how you're feeling because if you remember, what happened to you, happened to me too. But I don't hide. What makes you a tough person, what makes you strong is getting up, every day and facing LIFE. If you can get up in the morning and feel the pain and resist the urge to drown it in one kind of oblivion or another and you can function in the real world day in and day out then...THEN you are tough. But if you tell yourself you can't do it and you numb your brain and fake your life then you are weak.

I know you're bigger than me and I know you're in pain. But turn on the news. The whole WORLD is in pain. These days, the people who actually face their lives with a clear mind are few and far between. Doing drugs or partying and getting so drunk you can't see straight doesn't make you special. It makes you a statistic. And it robs you of the proud moment, after the rain, when you can say "I made it through." You've heard the analogies. The moth needs to struggle through the cocoon, the chicken needs to break through the egg, newborns have to push through the birth canal and you need to GET OVER IT.

That's right I said it. Get over it. To use another cliche, shit happens. You're not the first or the last to ever have a hard time. Yes there is pain, but you must feel it. You must feel it, accept it, and then move on. What do we do to shit when it happens? That's right. Flush it. Forget it. Wash your hands.

Life is short! This is one lesson you absolutely can't miss. You only get ONE. Your life is yours to do what you wish. If you'd like to sit around and mope, then by all means. Just don't complain when it's all said and done and you haven't actually experienced anything. That was your choice, after all. Speaking from a strictly personal point of view, this fact keeps me in line daily. I say, feel absolutely everything that comes your way. The good and the bad. But don't let it own you. Consider, and I mean REALLY, the fact that you may not have five more minutes. That is reality. It's actually one of the only true things we know. Our time is limited, and unless you plan on suicide you have no idea when it will be through.

So take a deep breath and make a decision to live your life. I remember when you really were strong. Where do you think I learned it? Don't forget I'm not the only one who is counting on you to pull through this. Don't let the fact that even He denied any release from the pain, escape you.

There is a reason.